No Rest for the Undead
by Irrelevant86
Summary: Ava's life wasn't normal even before the dead started walking. Her mom was a crazy conspiracy theorist who trained her to be warrior. But since the apocalypse started Ava's been on her own searching for what's left of her family, that is until a Police Man finds her walking down a highway. Suddenly Ava finds herself part of a group that she'd do anything to protect!
1. Days Gone By

_***Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own is my OC Ava. ***_

 _ **AN: Okay so this story is going to be slight AU in the beginning because a few characters who died aren't going to die. But at some point it's going to go completely AU and you'll find out why when we get to that point.**_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **No Rest for the Undead**_

 _Chapter One: Days gone by_

 _~(^.^)~_

I always thought my mom was crazy. For almost as long as I can remember she would shout nonstop about how the government was out to get us and that the world was gonna end soon. After my dad and younger brother died in a car crash when I was six mom went crazy. She pulled me out of school, sold our house in the city, and moved us to our vacation cabin in the woods. She would go on and on about how the world was gonna end, her way the world ended varied based on how drunk she was. Sometimes she said a meteor would hit the planet, other times she said a plague would wipe us out. So she spent most of my life training me on how to use various weapons, how to fight, and how to survive just about any situation.

Who would have thought in the end she was right; a plague really did cause the end of everything we knew? A person would die, then come back with a craving for human flesh. Anyone who got bit by someone infected died soon after and turned into one of those things. For the longest time, I hated her for what she did to me. She took me away from the only home I'd ever known, away from the rest of our family, and made my life hell. But honestly now that the dead are walking, I'm kind of grateful for the life I had, it turned me into a survivor, someone who could make it through this new world. Which is why I'm currently walking down a highway alive, instead dead already.

It's been a couple months since the outbreak and so far, I'd survived on my own. Well mostly on my own, I did have Pepper, a big Maine Coon Cat, who I'd found shortly after everything went to hell. Pepper was good at hunting squirrels and rabbits, and she also was good for warning me when Walkers were nearby. Pepper had taken to lying around my neck or between the sling backpack and my back. She was currently curled up between my back and the backpack. I could feel her head resting against my back, which brought me some comfort. The fact that she was relaxed and asleep meant there wasn't any danger nearby.

The sudden sound of a car coming down the highway behind me made me stop and glance back. As the car got closer I noticed it was a blue and white police car. I glanced around trying to find someplace to hide, but I was out in the open. I groaned and pulled out my hunting knife. Since the world went to shit you couldn't trust the living anymore. Ran into a few people in the past couple months who tried to kill me and take my supplies. I felt Pepper jumped down from my back, and I could hear her hissing. The car pulled to a stop across the street from me, and a man dressed in a tan police uniform stepped out. He took a second to look me over, stopping for a second at the knife in my hands. Pepper had stopped hissing and seemed to be looking the man over, though she still seemed tense and ready to attack at any moment.

"I'm Officer Rick Grimes, I'm not gonna hurt you," The man stated, holding his hands up in the air.

I glanced over at him, taking note of the gun in the holster at his hip.

"How do I know you're really an officer. Ya' coulda' jus' stole those clothes an that car?" I questioned.

"Well I don't have any IiDdea on me, so I can't really prove that I'm an officer. But I swear I really was a police officer before the dead started rising…" He paused for a moment, "although I do have a picture in my car of me and my family before all this happened, and I'm wearing my uniform in it."

I eyed him suspiciously for a second before nodding my head at him.

"All right, but keep ya hands where I can see 'em," I granted.

Rick turned back slightly to the car and pulled down the visor. He turned back to me and held the picture out to me. I carefully took the picture from him and looked it over, making sure to also keep my eye on him. There was a pretty brown haired woman standing next to Rick in the picture, and a young boy was standing in front of both of them. Rick was indeed wearing the same uniform he has own now. They were all smiling brightly. I turned the photo over and noticed a date on the back of it along with names.

' _Rick Grimes, Lori Grimes, and Carl Grimes._

 _4/9/09'_

That's dated just about a year before everything went to shit so it's safe to say he was telling the truth about being a cop. I handed the photo back to him, and he put it back in his car.

"How many of them undead things you killed?" I asked.

"Three so far," Rick answered.

Three? He's only killed three of those things since the dead started walking. Rick seemed to notice my confusion.

"Before the dead started walking I was shot while on duty. I've been in a coma since then and just woke up a couple days ago in an abandoned hospital," He explained.

I cringed at that. God if what he's saying is true than that had to be one hell of a nightmare. Waking up to find the world went to shit while you were out, not knowing a damn thing about what was going on.

"But you know how to deal with tha walkers?" I questioned.

"Yeah, ran into two people after waking up. They told me all I needed to know. We split up shortly afterwards," Rick said.

I nodded my head at that.

"And how do I know all you just said is true?" I asked.

Mom always did say don't believe someone right away, always dig deeper.

Rick sighed and pulled his shirt up slightly revealing a large bandage on his abdomen. I stared at him skeptically until he pulled the bandage off showing me the wound. I cringed once more, yeah that was defiantly a gunshot wound. Mom had taught me what type of damage any gun could do to a human being. She was trying to teach me to respect the weapon by showing me just what exactly it could do.

"All right. You kill anyone liven' since you woke up?" I asked.

Rick shook his head and I took another moment to look him over. I've always been good at telling when people are lying to me, and all my instincts screamed that he was telling the truth.

Suddenly Rick glances down at his feet and that's when I notice that Pepper had approached the man and had started to rub her head against his leg. I smiled and put the hunting knife back in its holster on my left thigh. The fact that he was a police officer was what really comforted me, but Pepper liking him helped make me feel better about the man.

Unlike my mother I trusted officers, especially since one had saved me from my mom when I was eighteen. Honestly mom had lost whatever was left of her sanity by the time I'd turned eighteen, and she probably would have killed me at some point if it hadn't been for that officer.

"Ava, and that one right there is Pepper," I introduced, motioning towards the cat.

The man smiled and bent down to pet Pepper.

"You and ugh… Pepper out here all by yourselves?" Rick asked.

I nodded my head.

"Ain't got no one wit' me sides Pepper," I answered, shrugging my shoulders.

"Well I'm heading to Atlanta, hoping to find my wife and kid there. You could come with me, have someone to watch your back," Rick suggested.

I sighed, and glanced down the empty road, biting my lip. I'd been alone since the beginning of this whole mess, mom had beat it into me not to trust anyone. And the few people I've run into since the dead started walking only made that lesson ring louder in my head. The only thought that kept me going all this time was trying to find my uncle and cousins, the only family I got left, and the only people I knew I could trust for sure. I was reluctant to trust anyone, but Rick had a point about having someone to watch your back.

Not to mention he'd just woken up from a coma not too long ago, which means he hasn't been in this new fucked up world long enough to lose his mind and become like the other people I've run into. After a few more moments of contemplation, I nodded my head at him and Rick smiled in return. I'd still be keeping my eye on him for a while, getting a feel for him, before I let my guard down around him.

"Alright hop in then," He said, getting back in the driver seat.

I picked up Pepper and got into the passenger seat of the car. Rick started the car up and soon enough we were flying down the highway. The whole drive I kept glancing over at him, trying to get a feel for who he was. I wasn't really comfortable talking with him. The only people I'd ever really held a conversation with was my uncle and cousins. I felt awkward sitting here next to him in utter silence, but I didn't know what to say.

We'd been driving down the highway in silence for some time when we came upon a small intersection with a gas station on the corner. Dozens of overturned cars littered the street and the parking lot of the gas station.

"We need some more gas if we're gonna get anywhere," Rick stated, reaching into the back to grab a small red gas can.

I nodded my head and stepped out of the car pulling out one of my Sais from behind my back.

"I'll look for some more supplies," I stated.

"Meet me back here at the car in fifteen minutes," Rick said, nodding his head at me.

I nodded back at him and started walking around the cars, glancing in and grabbing anything I thought might be useful. I found a couple energy bars, and a bottle of aspirin in one car, which I shoved into my bag before moving on to the next car. I could hear Pepper walking around behind me as I made my way around the cars.

Suddenly a tiny whimper caught my attention. I glanced around trying to find the source of the sound. I glanced down at Pepper to see she was staring at a turned over beat up blue truck several cars over. I quietly made my way around the truck, so I could look into it through the half-shattered windshield. It was dark inside the truck and I could hardly see anything.

Another small whimper came from inside the truck and I saw movement. I just barely caught the sight of a small girl curled up at the back of the truck. I glanced down at Pepper beside me who was staring in at the little girl with wide interested eyes. She wasn't hissing so the girl must not be a walker. I glanced around for a second but didn't see anyone else around. What the hell is a child doing out here all by herself? I turned back to the truck, determined to help her.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want to help," I said softly, holding my hand out to her.

The girl just stared at me, fear evident in her eyes. I glanced around once again making sure there weren't any walkers nearby.

"I'm Ava, and this is Pepper," I introduced, kneeling down.

The girl didn't even look at me though as she stared at Pepper in awe. Poor kid probably hasn't seen a living animal or person in ages.

"Why don't you come out of there. I promise I'm not gonna hurt you, I only wanna help," I stated, once again holding my hand out to her.

She seemed to hesitate for a moment before moving forward and grabbing hold of my hand. I pulled her out of the car and slowly looked her over. She couldn't be any older than six, had matted long blond hair, and bright jade green eyes. She was dressed in a set of dirty and tattered pajamas with bunny slippers on her feet, and a tiny fluffy white stuffed bunny rabbit clutched to her chest.

"Are you bit?" I asked softly.

The girl shook her head. I glanced over her once more and was relieved when I didn't see any wounds on her. Her face was covered in dirt and tear tracks, and her eyes were red and puffy.

"What's your name sweet heart?" I asked.

The girl looked at me, tears falling down her face.

"Harper," She whimpered, hugging her bunny closer to her.

Her voice was soft and quiet, barely even there.

"Harper I've got a friend Rick, he's a police officer. We've got a car, and we're headed towards Atlanta. Would you like to come with us?" I asked, gently setting my hand down on her shoulder.

Harper winced slightly as if she wasn't used to being touched. She stared at me wide eyed for a second before nodding her head.

"All right then," I murmured.

I put my Sia back in its holster on my back, and gently picked Harper up. Harper wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in the crook of my neck. I started moving forward, Pepper on my heels.

"Rick," I whisper shouted, glancing around for him.

I whisper shouted his name a few more times, before Rick rushed around a car, gun drawn. He lowered his gun when he saw me and his eyes immediately went to Harper in my arms. His eyes went wide.

"I found her hiding in a truck back there. Her names Harper and she's all by herself," I stated.

Rick nodded his head at this.

"I got a little bit of gas, not sure if It's enough to get us to Atlanta," Rick said, holding up the red gas can.

I followed him back to the car. As Rick put the little bit of gas in the tank I settled into the driver seat with Harper sitting on my lap and Pepper lying on her lap. Harper's arms were still wrapped around my neck in a vise grip. After a minute, Rick got into the driver's seat and we were once again headed down the highway. Rick had started fiddling with the radio.

"Broadcasting on emergency channel. We'll be approaching Atlanta on Highway 85. Anybody reads, please respond. Hello. Hello. Can anybody hear my voice? Anybody out there? Anybody hears me, please respond. Hello, can you hear my voice?" Rick stated into the radio.

All we heard was static.

"Hello? Hello? Can anybody hear my voice?" Rick asked after a minute.

Again, nothing but static.

"Can you hear my voice?" Rick asked.

Nothing but static once again. I glanced down at Harper in my arms. She'd fallen asleep, and one of her hands was threaded through Pepper's fur.

"Anybody who reads, please respond. Broadcasting on emergency channel. We'll be approaching Atlanta on Highway 85. Anybody reads, please respond," Rick asked once again.

And once again we got nothing but static.

"I don't think anyone's gonna answered," I whispered.

Rick glanced over at me for a second and sighed, then glanced back out at the road. We continued down the road in an awkward silence.

"So, ugh Ava what where you doing out here all by yourself?" Rick asked suddenly.

I looked over at him.

"Looking for what's left of my family, same as you," I replied, running my fingers through Harper's hair.

The rest of the ride was quite once more, until eventually the car ran out of gas. I sighed and gently woke Harper up.

"Come on we got to get out and fine some gas," I stated.

Harper nodded her head, and the three of us got out of the car. Rick grabbed thea photo of his family and stuck it in his pocket, then grabbed the gas can and his bag of guns. We started walking down the road for almost half an hour before we came up to a house.

"Stay down here with Harper I'll go up to the house and see if anyone's there," Rick ordered.

I wanted to go up to the house with him but knew I had to stay back here and watch over Harper so I just nodded my head and Harper just clung tighter to me. Rick moved around the house before moving to the truck sitting in the driveway. I heard him mutter something as he slammed the truck door shut. He started walking back towards me when his eye caught something. I glanced over and noticed a horse standing in a pasture. Oh, is he thinking what I think he's thinking? In a matter of a few minutes Rick had a harness on the horse and was riding it towards me.

"You've gotta be kidding me," I muttered.

Rick held his hand out to me. I sighed and held Harper out to him. He gently set her on the horse in front of him, then handed me his bag of guns. I secured the bag tightly on my back, picked up Pepper, and with Rick's help, climbed onto the horse behind Rick. We rode down the highway on the horse for several hours before we finally made it to the outskirts of the city. The side of the highway leading into the city was empty, while the side leading out was packed full of empty abandoned cars. I got a badck feeling in the pit of my stomach looking at all those cars.

"Rick I don't know about this. All those cars facing away from the city, like everyone was in a rush to get out," I exclaimed, glancing around again.

"I know but we've got to try," Rick muttered.

I sighed at that and shook my head. We road through the city and the farther we went in the more upset I became. The city was empty, a ghost town. Cars were sitting abandoned, trash was all over the place, and I even noticed a tank sitting abandoned in the middle of the street. We rode past a bus with some walkers on them and the horse shied away from the bus.

"Steady. It's just a few. Nothing we can't outrun," Rick muttered.

I glanced over at the tank as we passed it and could just barely see a dead body lying on it being pecked at by crows. Suddenly a helicopter flew over head of us and I glanced up at it. Rick gently kicked the horse's sides sending it moving down the street after the helicopter. We turned a corner, and I gasped at the sight of a hoard of walkers standing in the street. They all started shuffling towards us.

"Shit!" I exclaimed.

Rick turned the horse around and started back down the way we came. I could hear Harper crying in front of Rick and I wanted to reach out and comfort her. As we got closer to the tank another hoard of walkers came at us from the other side. They had us trapped on both sides. The walkers closed in on the horse, and it reared up in fear. I fell back off the horse and hit the ground, clutching Pepper close to my chest, the bag of guns digging into my back. Rick and Harper fell to the ground next to me.

"The tank," I shouted, crawling towards the tank as fast as I could with Pepper in my hands and a large bag of heavy guns on my back.

I crawled under the tank and glanced back to see Rick shoving Harper towards me. A couple of walkers started crawling under the tank after us. I glanced up at the bottom of the tank and noticed an open hatch. I shoved Pepper into the tank and pulled myself up inside. Harper appeared under the hatch and I quickly yanked her up into the tank, then helped Rick up inside. Rick quickly shut the hatch just as a walker appeared under it.

I moved over to Harper and checked her. She'd lost one of her slippers but other than that she was fine. The sound of Pepper hissing caught my attention and I looked up to see Rick leaning against one side of the tank with a dead soldier lying next to him. I pulled one of my Sais out of its holster and quickly moved towards the soldier. I reached it just as it started moving and slammed the Sai straight through it's right eye. Rick jumped and moved away slightly glancing from the dead soldier to me.

"Thanks," He muttered.

I nodded my head, and put the Sai back in its holster. Rick started pulling things out of the soldier's vest, and I moved back to Harper and pulled her into my arms. A few moments later Rick was up pulling the top hatch closed. Harper was crying hysterically, and Pepper walked up and rubbed her head against Harper's arm. Suddenly the radio in the corner of the tank that I hadn't noticed before started making noise. I glanced over at it.

"Hey, you. Dumb asses. Hey, you in the tank. Cozy in there?" A voice exclaimed over the radio.

I glanced back at Rick then turned back to the radio. Holy shit, there's somebody else out there!

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **AN: Yes, I know exactly what ya'll are thinking. Harper is in fact the zombie little girl that Rick ran into in the beginning of this episode. But I decided to not have her be a zombie and instead be alive. Hope ya'll enjoyed reading the chapter!**_


	2. Guts Part One

_***Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own is my OCs Ava, and Harper. ***_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **No Rest for the Undead**_

 _Chapter Two: Guts; Part One_

 _~(^.^)~_

I stared at the radio in absolute shock, not believing that I'd really heard a voice come through it. I glanced over at Rick to see him staring at the radio too. So, he'd heard too, so that means I wasn't hearing things.

"Hey, are you alive in there?" The voice asked.

Rick raced over to the radio and snatched it up.

"Hello? Hello?" He shouted into the radio.

"There you are. You had me wondering," The man stated.

"Where are you? Outside? Can you see me right now?" Rick questioned frantically.

I scooted closer to Rick so I could hear the man over the radio better.

"Yeah, I can see you. You're surrounded by walkers. That's the bad news," The man replied.

"There's good news?" Rick asked.

"No," The man muttered.

"Listen, whoever you are, I don't mind telling you we're a little concerned in here," Rick said, glancing over at me and Harper.

Harper was still crying though not as much as she was a few minutes ago.

"Oh man. You should see it from over here. You'd be having a major freak-out," The man stated.

"Got any advice for us?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, I'd say make a run for it," The man replied.

I stared at the radio in shock for a second before snatching it from Rick.

"Make a run for? That's your brilliant advice?!" I shouted.

Rick put his hand on my shoulder and gently took the radio back.

"My way's not as dumb as it sounds. You've got eyes on the outside here. There's one geek still up on the tank but the others have climbed down and joined the feeding frenzy where the horse went down. With me so far?" The man defends.

I cringed at the mention of the horse, the poor thing was being eaten alive, we were the ones that brought it into the city.

"So far," Rick said.

"Okay, the street on the other side of the tank is less crowded. If you move now while they're distracted, you stand a chance. Got ammo?" The man asked.

Rick glanced at me and took notice of the gun bag on my back.

"Yeah, and guns. And a Beretta with one clip, fifteen rounds," Rick replied.

"Make 'em count. Jump off the right side of the tank, keep going in that direction. There's an alley up the street, maybe fifty yards. Be there," The man instructed.

"Hey, what's your name?" Rick asked.

"Have you been listening? You're running out of time," The man stated.

"Right," Rick muttered. He glanced over at me.

"Ready?" He asked.

"One second," I replied.

I picked up Pepper and set her down on my shoulder, and she curled around my neck. She's a pretty big cat and actually a bit heavy but I could handle her weight. I wrapped my arms around Harper pulling her close to me.

"Harper hold on tight to me and don't let go," I instructed.

Harper nodded and her legs wrapped around my torso, while her arms latched onto my shoulders. Pepper rested her head on Harper's shoulder, and had one of her claws dug into the dirty pajama shirt that Harper wore.

"Ready," I stated, glancing up at Rick.

Rick nodded his head. He pulled out his Beretta and quickly opened the top hatch of the tank. Rick climbed up out of the tank and I heard a thud a few seconds later. I carefully climbed out of the tank and jumped down to the ground below. Rick was waiting for me at the bottom of the tank. Rick grabbed me by my elbow with his free hand, and started pulling me down the street.

Normally I would be taking out walkers along with him, but I didn't want to get to close to any of the walkers with Harper in my arms, so I allowed Rick to pull me along and take out the walkers in our way. Rick fired his gun at the few walkers who were in our way, and we quickly reached the alley the man on the radio had told us about. As we turned into the alley a young Asian man appeared and Rick damn near shot him.

"Whoa! Not dead! Come on! Come on! Back here! Come on! Come on!" The man exclaimed, leading us down the alley towards a ladder.

The man went up first and I shoved Harper towards the ladder.

"Harper climb up, follow him," I ordered.

Harper quickly scurried up the ladder and I followed her up with Rick right behind me. We reached a small platform after a few seconds of climbing. All of us are breathing hard, and Harper is clutching my leg, tears rolling down her face. I reached down and gently threaded my fingers through her hair to comfort her.

"Nice moves there, Clint Eastwood. You the new sheriff come riding in to clean up the town?" The man asked, glancing over at Rick.

"It wasn't my intention," Rick muttered.

"Yeah, whatever. Yeehaw. You're still a dumbass," The man stated.

A smirk appeared on my face, and I shook my head.

"Rick, Ava, Harper, and Pepper. Thanks," Rick introduced.

The man stared at the cat on my shoulders for a second his eyes wide. Seems like most people haven't seen a living cat since this whole thing started. I can understand why though. When I first found, her I was surprised to see a living cat as well. It had been about two weeks after everything went to hell. I'd been searching an empty house for supplies when I found her. At first Pepper didn't want anything to do with me. I'm not sure if she'd had an owner before everything went to shit but she kept her distance from me. It took several days of feeding her before she finally let me get close enough to pet her. And the rest was history.

"Glenn. You're welcome. Oh no," Glenn glanced up and I looked up as well.

That is a long climb.

"The bright side It'll be the fall that kills us. I'm a glass half-full kind of kind of guy," Glenn stated.

I grimaced at that. Glenn started up the ladder. I picked up Harper and helped her onto the ladder.

"Be careful climbing up okay," I said.

Harper nodded her head and glanced up at Glenn. She slowly started climbing up after him.

"Let me take the gun bag. You've got your own bag, weapons, and a large cat weighing you down already," Rick suggested.

I nodded my head, and handed him the gun bag. Rick slipped it onto his back, and I started up the ladder with Rick once again right behind me. It took a few minutes but we finally reached the roof of the building and I sighed in relief. Harper was sitting on the ground and I could tell she was exhausted from that climb.

"Are you the one that barricaded the alley?" Rick asked.

"Somebody did… I guess when the city got overrun. Whoever did it was thinking not many geeks would get through," Glenn explained.

"Back at the tank, why'd you stick your neck out for us?" Rick questioned.

"Call it foolish, naïve hope that if I'm ever that far up shit creek, somebody might do the same for me. Guess I'm an even bigger dumbass than you," Glenn replied.

Glenn walked over to another ladder leading down and I heard Harper whimper.

"It's all right Harper we'll be able to rest soon enough," I said, helping her stand up.

We climbed down into another alley. I could see four walkers standing around the alley. Glenn took out a walkie-talkie.

"I'm back. Got guests plus four geeks in the alley," Glenn stated.

Two men wearing protective gear and holding baseball bats appeared through a door across the alley. The two men went after the walkers, and bashed their heads in using the baseball bats.

"Let's go!" Glenn exclaimed.

I picked up Harper and we all raced inside what appeared to be a department store.

"Morales, let's go!" One of the men shouted.

We moved through the store, and I noticed two women standing in the middle of the room. Suddenly one of the women raced over to us and shoved a gun into Rick's face.

"You son of a bitch. We ought to kill you," The woman shouted.

I set Harper down on the ground behind me and pulled out my hunters knife ready to defend Rick if I needed to.

"Just chill out, Andrea. Back off," Morales interrupted.

"Come on, ease up," The other woman said.

"Ease up? You're kidding me, right? We're dead because of these stupid assholes," Andrea shouted.

"Hey, watch your language, we've got a kid here," I exclaimed, scowling at the woman.

That seemed to get Andrea's attention and she glanced with wide eyes at Harper who was hiding behind my leg. After a few seconds, Andrea glanced back at Rick then scowled.

"We're dead… all of us… because of you," She muttered.

"I don't understand," Rick said, sounding lost.

"Look, we came into the city to scavenge supplies. You know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving! You know the key to surviving? Sneaking in and out, tiptoeing. Not shooting up the streets like it's the O.K. corral," Morales explained.

"Every geek for miles around heard you popping off rounds," The other man stated.

"You just rang the dinner bell," Andrea muttered.

"Get the picture now?" Morales asked.

I glanced around the store and noticed two sets of large glass double doors. Behind them was dozens of walkers all attempting to smash through the glass. I glanced around the rest of the store. Mine as well get some supplies while we're here. I walked over to the small kid's section not too far away, and started grabbing a few clothes for Harper seeing as the only thing she had was her tattered dirty pajamas and her one slipper. I shoved the clothes and a pair of tiny shoes into my bag, deciding to help her change once we were safe till then I'll just have to carry her. I walked back over to the group just as the sound of gun shots from the roof reached us.

"Oh no, is that Dixon?" Andrea asked.

"What is that maniac doing?" Morales questioned.

"Come on, let's go," Glenn said, racing off to a set of stairs.

I picked up Harper and followed the group up the stairs. As we raced up the stairs Rick told me everybody's names. When we got to the roof I could see a tall man standing off to one side of the roof with a snipper rifle in his hand shooting at the walkers down on the street.

"Hey, Dixon, are you crazy?" T-Dog shouted.

Dixon laughed and took another shot at the street below.

"Oh jeez," Andrea muttered.

"Hey! Ya'll be more polite to a man with a gun! Huh? Ah! Only common sense," Dixon exclaimed.

"Man, you wasting bullets we ain't even got!" T-Dog stated. Dixon just laughed again.

"And you're bringing even more of them down on our ass! Man, just chill," T-Dog shouted.

"Hey! Bad enough I've this taco-bender on my ass all day. Now I'm gonna take orders from you? I don't think so, bro. That'll be the day," Dixon growled.

I scowled at that. It's the end of the damn world and he's still acting like a racists jackass.

"That'll be the day? You got something you want to tell me?" T-Dog asked.

"Hey, T-Dog man, just leave it," Morales exclaimed.

"No," T-Dog replied.

"All, right? It ain't worth it. Now Merle, just relax, okay? We've got enough trouble," Morales stated.

"You want to know the day?" Merle asked.

"Yeah," T-Dog shouted.

"I'll tell you the day, Mr. 'Yo'. It's the day I take orders from a nigger," Merle stated. I blanched at the word. The hell is wrong with him.

"Mother…" T-Dog went at Merle and tried to punch him.

The two started fighting, and everyone started shouted. Rick tried to step in but Merle punch Rick knocking him to the ground. I set Harper down on the ground along with my bag. Pepper jumped off my shoulders, and I pulled out my hunting knife. Merle was too busy pounding on T-Dog, who was lying on the ground by now, that he didn't notice me sneaking up behind him. I kicked the back of his knee making him fall down and I wrapped one arm around the arm holding the gun, and held the hunting knife to his throat digging in slightly causing him to hiss in pain.

"Drop the gun, now!" I growled.

"Fucking Bitch," He muttered, dropping the gun to the ground.

Rick was quick to grab the gun, then walked in front of Merle.

"Who the hell are you?" Merle shouted.

"Officer friendly. Look here, Merle. Things are different now. There are no niggers anymore. No dumb-as-shit, inbred white-trash fools either. Only dark meat and white meat. There's us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart," Rick explained.

"Screw you, man," Merle said.

I dug my knife into his neck just a little bit more and he growled but shut up.

"I can see you make a habit of missing the point. Ought to be polite to a man with a gun. Only common sense," Rick said.

"You wouldn't. You're a cop," Merle denied.

"All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son. Anybody that gets in the way of that is gonna lose. I'll give you a moment to think about that," Rick replied.

He walked away towards the rest of the group.

"I'm gonna let ya go. But before I do I'm'a let ya know, don't try notin' cause I won't hesitate to kill you if I have ta'. Got that!" I stated.

I heard the man snort and I twisted his arm slightly, and made sure to draw a bit of blood from his throat with my knife. He let out a yelp of pain.

"All right fine, damn woman!" He agreed.

I let go of the man and walked back over to Harper, while keeping my eye on him. He stood up, rubbing his throat. He glanced back at me and scowled. I picked Harper up and walked over to the group.

"Got some people outside the city is all. There's no refugee center. That's a pipe dream," Morales stated.

I stopped at that. No refugee center? Damnit! I was hoping to find my family there.

"Then she's right. We're on our own. It's up to us to find a way out," Rick said.

"Good luck with that. These streets ain't safe in this part of town from what I hear. Ain't that right, sugar tits?" Merle turned to Andrea, "Hey, honeybunch what say we go off somewhere and bump some uglies? Gonna die anyway."

Andrea cringed slightly, a scowl forming on her face.

"I'd rather," Andrea muttered.

"Rug muncher. I figured as much," Merle said.

"The streets ain't safe. Now there's an understatement," Morales said.

"What about under the streets? The sewers?" Rick asked.

"Oh man. Hey, Glenn, check the alley. You see any manhole covers?" Morales ordered.

Glenn ran over to the other side of the roof and glanced down into the alley, then ran back over to us.

"No, must be all out on the street where the geeks are," He answered.

"Maybe not. Old building like this built in the '20s… Big structures often had drainage tunnels into the sewers in case of flooding down in the subbasements," Jacqui explained.

"How do you know that?" Glenn asked.

"It's my job… was. I worked in the city zoning office," Jacqui answered.

I grabbed my bag and followed everyone down the stairs towards the basement and the sewer entrance.

"This, is it? Are you sure?" Morales questioned.

"I really scoped this place out the other times I was here. It's the only thing in the building that goes down. But I've never gone down it. Who'd want to, right?" Glenn replied.

We all looked up at him, and he frowned.

"Oh. Great," He muttered.

"We'll be right behind you," Andrea stated.

"No, you won't. Not you," Glenn denied.

Andrea looked offended at this.

"Why not me? Think I can't?" Andrea asked.

"I wasn't…" Glenn paused seeming to think about something.

"Speak your mind," Rick told him.

"Look, until now I always came here by myself… In and out, grab a few things… No problem. The first time I bring a group… Everything goes to hell. No offense. If you want me to go down this gnarly hole, fine… But only if we do it my way. It's tight down there. If I run into something and have to get out quick, I don't want you all jammed up behind me getting me killed. I'll take one person… Not you either," Glenn glanced over at Rick, "You've got a gun and I've seen you shoot. I'd feel better if you were out in that store watching those doors, covering our ass," He turned to Andrea, "And you've got the only other gun, so you should go with him," Now he turned to Morales, "You be my wingman. Jacqui stays here. Something happens, yell down to us, get us back up here in a hurry."

"Okay," Jacqui said.

"And just what the hell do you expect me to do huh?" Merle asked, scowling at Glenn.

"Ugh well… you, Ava, and T-Dog can continue to gather more supplies that way we won't have to make another supply trip anytime soon," Glenn suggested.

Merle snorted at the suggestion and rolled his eyes. I glared at the man for a second.

"Okay, everybody knows their jobs," Rick said.

Glenn started down the ladder, followed by Morales, and everyone else moved off to do what they had been told.

"Come on let get some more supplies," I muttered. I walked out into the store with T-Dog right behind me.

"What so we're all just gonna do what little china man says? Who the hell put him in charge?" Merle shouted.

I stopped, a scowl moving onto my face.

"Harper I want you to go with T-Dog and look around the store for anything you might need. Stay within his sight, and do what he says okay," I said, glancing up at T-Dog for a second.

Harper hesitated for a moment seeming to not want to let go of me, but she eventually nodded her head. T-Dog gently took her from me and moved off into the store. I turned to face Merle.

"We're doing what he asked cause his plan makes sense. Ya don't like it ya free to leave the store an go out on ya own an do whatever ya want," I answered.

He scoffed, and moved past me, bumping my shoulder as he went. I rolled my eyes, and moved around the store, picking up items here and there. A couple times Pepper would bring something over to me and I would shove it in my bag. Soon enough my bag was full of clothes, cat food, a few things of canned foods, and a few hygiene products. I came across a small section filled with hunting and camping equipment. I smiled at this.

I grabbed a large Hiking Backpack off one of the racks and put two sleeping bags, in it. I grabbed a small box that had an image of a tent on it. The box stated that the tent was just big enough to fit two people so I shoved it in the bag with the sleeping bags. I stuffed a black tactical flash light into the bag, along with some batteries, a mini med kit, a compass, and two blankets. I stopped at one shelf and almost started jumping up and down in excitement.

Sitting at the back of the shelf was a Sawyer Mini Water Filter. I snatched it up and shoved it into the hiking bag. This will definitely come in handy. Wish I had one of these when the dead first started walking. I also noticed a small taser sitting on the same shelf and put it into one of the pockets on my cargo pants. I found two bottles of sun screen and shoved them into the bag.

Suddenly the sound of glass shattering reached my ears and I took off towards the doors. When I reached them I could see that the walkers had managed to break through the first set of glass doors, and were working on the second. I could see Rick and Andrea standing by a counter full of jewelry, and Andrea had a necklace in her hands. T-Dog came running over to us with Harper in his arms, and Harper had a bag in her hand that seemed to be almost completely full. He glanced at the door in fear. Merle was the next person to show up, and behind him was Glenn and Morales.

"What did you find down there?" Rick asked, turning to Glenn.

"Not a way out," Morales stated.

T-Dog set Harper down on the ground and Harper walked over to me and latched onto my leg.

"We need to find a way…" Andrea glanced over at the doors, "And soon."


	3. Guts Part Two

_***Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own is my OCs Ava, and Harper. ***_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **No Rest for the Undead**_

 _Chapter Two: Guts; Part Two_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **Roof**_

We were all gathered on the roof trying to come up with a way to get out of here. So far nobody had managed to come up with a decent plan. Harper was lying down on the ground next to a pipe. The poor thing was dead tired and practically asleep already.

"That construction site, those trucks… they always keep keys on hand," Rick exclaimed.

I glanced over at the construction site and all the walkers moving around on the streets below.

"You'll never make it past the walkers," Morales stated.

"You got me out of that tank," Rick said, looking at Glenn.

"Yeah, but they were feeding. They were distracted," Glenn countered.

"Can we distract them again?" Rick questioned.

"Right. Listen to him. He's onto something. A diversion, like on Hogan's Heroes," Merle muttered.

"God. Give it a rest," Jacqui said.

"They're drawn by sound, right?" Rick asked.

"Right, like dogs. They hear a sound, they come," Glenn replied.

"What else?" Rick asked.

"Aside from they hear you? They see you, smell you and if they catch you, they eat you," Morales stated.

"They can tell us by smell?" Rick questioned.

"Can't you?" Glenn said.

"They smell dead, we don't. It's pretty distinct," Andrea stated.

I glanced at Rick and could see the gears turning in his head. I had an idea of what he was thinking, and there ain't no way in hell I'm smearing walker guts all over myself or somebody else. Mom had prepared me for a lot of things but that was definitely not one of them.

"Come on I've got an idea. Ava stay here with Harper, this isn't something she should see, and she can't be left alone," Rick ordered.

Well that solves that problem then. I walked over to where Harper was sitting and sat down next to her. I put my arm around her and pulled her into my side. She cuddled into my side and her breathing evened out letting me know she'd fallen asleep. Pepper walked over and curled up on my lap. About twenty minutes later everybody except Rick and Glenn walked through the doors onto the roof.

"Hey, T-Dog, try that C.B." Morales suggested.

T-Dog moved over to the C.B. and started fiddling with it. I gently laid Harper down, pushed Pepper off my lap, and stood up. I walked over to where everybody else was standing.

"Base camp, this is T-Dog. Anybody hear me? Can anybody out there hear me?" T-Dog said into the C.B.

I looked down the street looking for Rick and Glenn. But I couldn't spot them among the walkers. God, I hope Rick's plan works.

"There," Morales exclaimed, pointing at two people moving through the street.

Suddenly thunder rumbled overhead, and I glanced up at the cloudy sky. Oh damn. Rain. That could wash away the smell and leave Rick and Glenn out in the open with no cover.

"Hello? Hello? Reception's bad on this end. Repeat. Repeat," A voice exclaimed over the C.B.

The voice came out muffled and slightly garbled.

"Shane, is that you? We're in some deep shit. We're trapped in the department store. There are geeks all over the place. Hundreds of 'em. We're surrounded," T-Dog stated.

But all we got back in return was static. Damnit! Thunder rumbled overhead again, and I felt tiny arms wrap around my leg. I glanced down and saw Harper wrapped around my leg, shaking. I ran my fingers through her hair trying to calm her down. Suddenly rain started falling from the sky and I groaned.

"Oh man. It's just a cloudburst. We get 'em all the time. It'll pass real quick," Morales explained.

I glanced down at the street nervously. Rick and Glenn were still moving down the street, though it seemed like the walkers were taking notice of the fact that they weren't really dead. Suddenly one of the walkers charges at them and Rick smashes it's skull in with an axe. The two of them take off running down the street killing a few walkers along the way.

"Come on, come on, come on," Morales chants.

"Those two are fucking crazy sons o' bitches," Merle stated.

At last Rick and Glenn reached the fence to the construction site, and both of them flung their weapons over the fence before climbing over it. Glenn went off to find the keys for the truck while Rick shot any walkers that tried to get over the fence. After a few seconds Glenn tosses Rick a set of keys and the two race for one of the trucks. They climb into the trucks and slam the doors shut just as a walker reaches them. The truck takes off heading away from us.

"They're leaving us," Andrea stated.

"No, no they're not. They wouldn't leave us," I countered.

"Well then where are they going?" Andrea questioned.

"I don't know but I know that they'll come back for us," I replied.

A few moments later the C.B. crackles and Glenn's voice came through.

"Those roll-up doors at the front of the store facing the street… Meet us there and be ready," Glenn ordered.

"Everybody get your shit and get moving," I shouted, grabbing my sling backpack.

I secured it on my back and Pepper jumped up and nestled herself between the bag and my back.

"T-Dog can you take my hiking bag, I've gotta carry Harper?" I asked.

T-Dog nodded his head and took the bag from me and picked up his own bag as well. I grabbed Harper as everyone else grabbed their stuff. We all raced off the roof and down to the loading dock, passing by the glass doors that now had several large cracks in them. We didn't have much time left. We reached the loading dock and Andrea grabbed hold of the chain that was used to open the doors.

"Okay. Okay. I got it," Andrea stated.

Morales shushed Andrea, and I could just barely hear some sort of loud wailing noise from outside.

"What is that?" Andrea asked.

I heard the sound of an engine being revved. The sound of shattering glass hit my ears, and I glance back the way we came.

"Shit, they're in the store!" I exclaimed.

Three knocks on the door let us know that Rick was right outside. Andrea with help from T-Dog and Morales opened the door, and everybody started tossing their bags into the cube truck. Andrea jumped into the truck and turned back to me and held her hands out for Harper. I passed her off to Andrea before jumping into the truck. T-Dog and Jacqui jumped in, then Merle and Morales.

"We're in," Morales said, turning to try and close the back doors.

Rick rushed up to the front of the truck and started driving away from the store. I could see walkers moving out the load dock doors, and then the next second Morales had the doors closed. I drop to the floor of the truck, breathing heavily. I felt Pepper crawl out from between my back and the bag. Harper is suddenly in my lap with her face buried in my neck. I can feel tears falling onto my neck, and I wrap my arms around her.

"Where's Glenn?" Andrea askes suddenly.

I glance up and notice that Glenn isn't in the truck. Fear takes hold of me for a second thinking we lost him somehow.

"He's in another car. He led the walkers off with the car so that I could get the truck to you guys," Rick explained.

I sighed in relief and leaned back against the truck wall. Thank god! I may not have known Glenn for long but he saved Rick's, Harper's, and my life when he didn't have to, not to mention he seemed like a nice person. Morales climbed up to the passenger seat and started giving Rick directions back to where their group is at. I sighed, let my head fall back against the van wall. Harper had once again fallen asleep in my lap. I smiled down at her, thinking she had the right idea.

"Wake me up when we get there," I muttered, closing my eyes.

I heard a snort and several 'will do's' as I drifted off…


	4. Tell it to the frogs Part One

_***Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own is my OCs Ava, and Harper. ***_

 _ **AN: Sorry I didn't post this yesterday I had one hell of a migraine and just couldn't work on it yesterday!**_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **No Rest for the Undead**_

 _Chapter Four: Tell it to the frogs_

 _~(^.^)~_

"Hey, we're almost there, get yer ass up," A harsh voice exclaimed, followed by a kick to my thigh.

I jumped at the contact, my eyes flying open, and a hand reaching for my hunter's knife. I stopped when I noticed everybody in the van glaring at Merle.

"What she said to wake 'er up when we got close," Merle defended.

"I didn't mean kick me," I growled, sitting back against the van wall again.

Merle just snorted and moved to the other side of the van. I glanced around the van and noticed Harper standing up near the front with Rick who was talking softly to her. Suddenly the van came to a stop and everyone started getting out.

"Come meet everybody," Morales said.

I heard Morales and Andrea reunite with their families, and I couldn't help but think of my Uncle and Cousins. I glanced up at Rick and saw his face fall and I sighed. I moved up towards him and Harper.

"We'll find your wife and kid," I stated, patting him on the shoulder.

He glanced up at me and nodded his.

"Hey, helicopter boy! G.I Jane! Come say hello," Morales shouted.

I scowled at the nickname. G.I. Jane, who the hell is that? Was that an insult? Rick saw the look of confusion on my face and shook his head, then stepped out of the van. I grabbed my bags and Harper's hand, and we stepped out of the van. I almost ran into Rick, who had stopped a few steps away from the van. He was staring at something, and I looked over his shoulder and gasped. Standing a short distance away was the woman and boy from Rick's picture.

"Oh, my god," Rick whispered.

The boy, Carl, started running towards us, and Rick raced forward to meet him. The two crashed into each other, and Rick picked Carl up off the ground clutching him tightly to his chest. Lori walked up slowly, her eyes filled with tears. Rick pulled her into a hug and the three of them stood there just holding each other. I smiled at the sight, and pulled Harper close to me. My Uncle and Cousin's popped back into my mind and I sighed. I glanced down at Harper. She was all alone in this world, at least I think she is I'm not sure what happened to her parents. But the one thing I know is that I'm going to be here for her.

"Lori, Carl, I'd like to introduce you to Ava and Harper. They helped me find you guys," Rick's voice announced, interrupting my thoughts.

I glanced up at Rick and his family. Suddenly Carl had practically tackled me to the ground in a hug, the only thing that kept me standing was my instincts and reflexes.

"Thank you for getting my dad back to me," He whispered.

I smiled and ruffled his hair. Carl let go of me and glanced over at Harper, who had taken to hiding behind my leg.

"Hello, I'm Carl," Carl introduced, holding his hand out.

Harper glanced up at me and I nodded my head at her. Harper slowly moved out from behind me and shook Carl's hand.

"Harper," She murmured.

"Miss Ava can Harper play with me and Sophia?" Carl asked, glancing back at a blond girl standing a little way away.

"Yes, she can play with you guys for a little bit but first I have to get her changed into some new clothes okay," I answered.

Carl nodded his head and walked over to Sophia. By now everyone had dispersed and I was left standing by the van with Harper, Rick, Lori, and another man.

"Ava this is my friend Shane," Rick said.

"Hey," I said, nodding at the man.

He nodded back at me.

"Is there a place where I can set up a tent?" I asked the man.

"Yeah, I'll show you," He answered, walking away.

I followed him, patting Rick on the shoulder as I past him. Shane brought me over to a small clearing near the back of an RV.

"You can set up your tent here. There's a lake down that way," Shane pointed towards the lake, "If you want to wash up."

"Thank you," I replied, setting my sling bag and hiking bag down.

Shane walked away and I pulled out the tent from the bag.

"I'm gonna set up the tent really quick, then we can get you cleaned up a bit and into some new clothes okay," I stated, kneeling in front of Harper.

Harper nodded her head, and sat down on the ground, leaning against the RV. Pepper walked over and climbed onto Harper's lap and laid down, purring loudly. I quickly put the tent up, and set the sleeping bags down inside. I shoved the bags into the corner of the tent, then grabbed some clothes for Harper out of the bag.

"All right Harper lets head down to that lake that Shane mentioned," I exclaimed, zippering the tent closed.

Harper stood up, and the two of us made our way down to the lake. When we got to the lake I found a spot that was hidden from the camp slightly by trees, and helped Harper out of her ruined pajamas. I helped Harper clean up, then put the new clothes on her.

"Now don't you feel much better now?" I asked, smiling at her.

She nodded her head and smiled back at me.

"All right let's get you back to the camp so you can play with Carl and Sophia," I stated.

I took Harper's hand and we walked back up to camp. Harper went off to play with the other kids, and I walked back over to our tent. I sat down outside the tent and glanced around the camp, making sure that Harper was in my sight at all times, absentmindedly twirling one of my Sais in my hand.

Sais were moms favorite weapon to train with, but she only had one pair for herself. So, on one of her good days, meaning she wasn't drunk, she bought me the Sais as a present so that the two of us could train with them together. Honestly it was the only present I ever got from her after she went crazy.

Everybody around me was talking with each other, but I was just sitting here looking them all over. I'd just barely started to fully trust Rick and now I'm surrounded by all these people I didn't know. I sort of trusted Glenn, seeing as he risked himself to help us when he didn't have to, so I decided to give his friends a chance to prove themselves trustworthy…

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **Later that night**_

The sun had gone down two hours ago, and everybody was gathered around the fire. Well Ed, Carol, and Sophia were sitting a little way away at their own fire, while Merle was sitting at his own fire near his tent which was farther away from the rest of us. Rick had been telling us about how he woke up from a coma to find out the world had ended. God that had to be terrifying!

"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion… all those things but… disoriented comes closest," Rick stated.

"Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short," Dale said.

I nodded my head at that. Ain't that the truth.

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever," Rick explained.

"Mom said you died," Carl whispered.

"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it," Rick said, pulling Carl closer to him.

I noticed Lori glance over at Shane for a second. She looked mad for some reason but I couldn't figure out why.

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened," Lori exclaimed.

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell," Rick stated.

"Yeah," Lori muttered.

"And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun," Rick said.

"Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know?" Shane exclaimed.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it," Rick stated.

Harper yawned next to me.

"Come on Harper let's get you to bed," I whispered, standing up.

Harper rubbed her eyes as she followed me back to the tent. I tucked her into her sleeping bag, and quietly told her a story till she fell asleep. She looked so small and innocent lying there curled up in her sleeping bag with her stuffed bunny clutched to her chest. I moved over to my sleeping bag and quietly took off all my weapons before laying down. Today had been a very long day and I was glad to get the chance to properly rest…

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **The Next Morning**_

I was sitting on a log outside my tent, watching as everyone moved around and interacted. I was trying to get a feel for these people, see if I could really trust them. So far most of the people around here seemed nice. But from the little I've seen I don't really care much for Shane. There was just something off about him, honestly, he seemed to be slowly becoming unhinged. Lori, I didn't like to much either, mostly cause she seemed to boss all the woman around telling them what to do but not really doing much herself, though she was better than Shane.

I glanced over to were Harper was playing with Carl and Sophia. Even though the two were both older than Harper they seemed to like playing with her, and I smiled at that. At least Harper had some friends now.

I noticed Rick step out of his tent and start talking to Carol. After Rick finished talking to Carol he moved over to Glenn, who was forlornly watching Dale and Jim tear apart the red car. Lori approached Rick after a few minutes and the two talked quietly between each other. The sound of a car approaching from the lake caught my attention.

"Water's here, ya'll. Just a reminder to boil before use," Shane exclaimed, stepping out of the car.

Suddenly three screams rang out from the woods and I jumped up looking for Harper. I couldn't see her and panic flooded through me.

"Mom!" Carl shouted from somewhere in the woods.

Oh god! I took off running, pulling both my Sais out ready to take out any walkers that got near the children. I could hear people running behind me but I didn't pay attention to them. Carl and Sophia were both screaming for their mom's and I could hear Harper calling my name. I raced towards their voices. The kids come into my line of sight, and all three of them raced towards me.

"Any of ya bit, scratched?" I asked, pulling them behind me.

"No," They all chorused.

At that moment, the rest of the adults caught up to me, and Lori pulled Carl into a hug, while Carol grabbed hold of her daughter. I wanted to hug Harper close to me, but right now I couldn't do that, I had to take care of whatever threat had caused the kids to scream. I moved towards were the kids had come from and could finally see what had scared them. A walker was crouched over a dead deer, taking bites out of it. The thing seemed to hear me and glanced back at me. It growled and started moving towards me. I scowled and quickly buried my Sais through both of its eyes. I wiped my Sais off on the walkers clothing.

"It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain," Dale stated fearfully.

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what," Jim added.

"Then maybe this place isn't safe anymore," I cut in.

"It's just one walker, we'll be fine," Shane replied condescendingly. I scowled at him.

"Where there's one there's more, just like cockroaches. I'm telling you this place ain't gonna be safe much longer," I countered.

Shane rolled his eyes at that and I felt like stabbing him with my Sais. Damn fool is gonna get everyone killed if he doesn't pull his head out of his ass. The sound of snapping branches and footsteps was the only warning I had before a man stepped out from behind a clump of trees and bushes. I damn near stabbed him with my Sais before I realized he was alive and not a walker. The man glared down at the walker, a scowl marring his face.

"Son of a bitch. That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this… filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard," The man shouted, kicking at the walker with each word.

"Calm down, son. That's not helping," Dale stated.

"What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "on golden pond"? I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" The man questioned, moving around the deer.

I grimaced at that, that might not be a good idea.

"I would not risk that," Shane said.

The man sighed and shook his head.

"That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel… about a dozen or so. That'll have to do," He muttered, moving back towards the camp and we all followed him.

"Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up," The man shouted.

Oh, so this must be Daryl, Merle's brother. I'd heard the others talking about him last night. I moved over to my tent where Harper was sitting. She was crying and Pepper seemed to be doing her best to try and comfort her. I sat down next to Harper and pulled her onto my lap.

"It's okay, I've got ya. Not gonna let notin' get ya," I murmured, hugging her tightly.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my shirt. I started quietly singing a lullaby my mom used to sing when I was younger, before my dad and brother died. After a few minutes of this Harper calmed down and stopped shaking. I glanced around the camp to see that everything had gone back to normal.

Daryl and Merle were skinning the squirrels that Daryl had brought back. Dale was up on his RV looking out for more walkers. Rick and Lori seemed to be talking about something, and I noticed that Shane and Carl weren't around. Well Carl's with Shane, I may not really trust the man, but I didn't doubt that he would watch out for Carl. I noticed Amy walking towards me.

"Hey Ava, would you mind helping me, Andrea, Carol, and Jacqui wash some clothes?" Amy asked.

I smiled at her nodded my head.

"No problem, come on Harper," I replied.

Harper grabbed my hand and we moved towards the car that the rest of the girls had piled into with the dirty clothes. I noticed Ed, Carol's husband sitting in the driver seat. Oh great, that ass is driving us down to the lake…


	5. Tell it to the frogs Part Two

_***Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I only own is my OC Ava and Harper. ***_

 _ **AN: Okay so lilly2wolt pointed something out to me about the first chapter and I'm taking what they said to me to heart. So, I've make a few small changes to chapter one. I'm not changing too much but it should hopefully help make Ava and Rick's meeting a little more realistic. I've also made a very small changes to chapters two, three, and four.**_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **No Rest for the Undead**_

 _Chapter 5: Tell it to the frogs; Part Two_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **Lake**_

Ed was sitting back at the car watching us wash the clothes and I scowled at him for a second before turning back to the shirt I was washing. He could get his lazy ass over here and help. Harper was sitting next to me playing with her stuffed bunny, and she seemed content to just sit there leaning against me. Carol on my other side washing a pair of pants with Jacqui on the other side of her. Andrea and Amy were sitting next Harper, and occasionally Amy would stop and smile at Harper as she played. I could hear Shane and Carl across the lake trying to catch frogs. Carl looked to be having fun.

"I'm beginning to question the division of labor here," Jacqui muttered. Andrea nodded in agreement.

"Can someone explain to me how the women wound up doing all the Hattie McDaniel work" Jacqui questioned.

"The world ended. Didn't you get the memo?" Amy replied.

"It's just the way it is," Carol stated, shrugging her shoulders.

I glanced over at her and glanced over her for a second. Her body language screamed fear, and I noticed a few bruises around her upper arm. My hatred for her husband just grew more and more the longer I was around the woman. She was quiet but when she did speak she only had nice things to say. She cared so much for her daughter, and was almost like a mother to everyone here at the Quarry. Out of everyone here she was one of the people I liked the most.

"I so miss my Maytag," Carol exclaimed.

"I miss my Benz, my sat nav," Andrea stated.

"I miss my coffeemaker with that dual-drip filter and built-in grinder, honey," Jacqui added.

"My computer… and texting," Amy continued.

"I miss my vibrator," Andrea said.

I laughed at that one along with everyone else.

"Oh!" Jacqui said.

"Oh, my God!" Amy said.

"Me too," Carol added after a moment.

That caused even more laughter to erupt from all of us. I could get used to hanging out with these girls. I'd never had a friend before, thanks to my mom, but if this is what friendship is I think I like it.

"What's so funny?" Ed asked, walking over to us.

My smile fell replaced by a scowl. Carol seemed to drawl into herself at the sound of his voice.

"Just swapping war stories, Ed," Andrea answered.

"Yeah," Amy added.

Ed moved closer to us, looking each of us over. I stared him right in the eyes, a scowl marring my face, just daring him to say or do something.

"Problem, Ed?" Andrea asked him when he just stood there staring.

"Nothin' that concerns you. And you ought to focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club," Ed growled.

"Hey, we're allowed to talk and have fun while getting the work done if we want. Seems we could use some fun in this world now. How 'bout instead of bitchen 'bout how the shit gets done you help," I stated, standing up to face him.

Carol tugged at my pant leg and shook her head. Her eyes were wide and it was clear she was worried that Ed would try to hurt me for speaking up. Let him try see what happens to him! Ed scowled and moved a step closer trying to intimidate me, but I stood my ground. I wasn't as tall or as big as him but I'm fast and good with a knife, not to mention I know how to fight.

"Ain't my job!" He countered.

I scoffed at that.

"Well maybe it should be seeing as ya don't do a damn thing but sit on ya ass smoking all the time. What job do have here at the quarry huh?" I questioned.

"Well, it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch," Ed turned to Carol, "Come on. Let's go."

Carol stood up and started to move towards Ed but I grabbed her arm and pulled her behind me, gently pushing her towards the other girls.

"She don't need ta go anywhere with ya," I growled.

"And I say it's none of your business. Come on now. You heard me," Ed replied.

"Carol," Andrea whispered.

"Please, it doesn't matter," Carol exclaimed.

"Hey, don't think I won't knock you on your ass just 'cause you're some college-educated cooze, All right? Now you come on now or you gonna regret it later," Ed ordered.

"So, she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed? Yeah, we've seen them," Jacqui stated.

Ed laughed at that.

"Stay out of this. Now come on! You know what? This ain't none of ya'll's business. You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am done talking. Come on," Ed growled, reaching past me to grab Carol's arm roughly.

Suddenly everybody was talking, I could hear Harper crying, and then just as suddenly Ed had slapped Carol. That's when I lashed out and punched Ed in the face. I heard a sickening crunching sound and Ed howled in pain. After a moment Ed attempted to punch me, but I just grabbed hold of his arm and twisted it while bringing my knee up into his gut. He fell to the ground wheezing. I hit him in the face two more times, before I grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him up, so he was looking at me.

"Don't ever let me see you hit her ever again because next time I won't stop!" I stated.

I waited till he nodded his head at me before I dropped him to the ground. I glanced down at my hands and noticed that my knuckles were bleeding slightly from hitting him. After a moment of staring at my knuckles I glanced back at Carol who was crying hysterically. Harper raced over to me and clung to my leg.

"I'm so sorry," Carol wailed, moving over to Ed.

I sighed at that. That's how I was with my mom. Whenever she'd get drunk and hit me I always thought it was my fault. It took mom dying before I realized how fucked up she was and that I wasn't to blame for any of it.

"Come on Harper let's get back to camp," I whispered, picking her up.

We walked back up to the camp quietly. Dale, Jim, and Glenn were working on the RV, while Lori was making something up for lunch. Carl was sitting next to her reading a book. The Dixon's were sitting in front of their tent skinning and gutting the squirrels that Daryl had brought back this morning. Rick was looking through his bag of guns taking inventory of all we had. He glanced up at me as I walked towards the camp, and he frowned at the sight of Harper crying, then he caught sight of my bleeding knuckles.

"What happened?" He asked, standing up.

Everybody around glanced up at his exclamation.

"Ed hit Carol, so I punched him a couple times," I replied, setting Harper down next to Carl who immediately pulled her into a hug.

Dale disappeared into his RV then came out a few seconds later with a first aid kit.

"Here let me help you with your hand," He offered.

I smiled at him and sat down next to Harper. Dale reminded me of my uncle in a lot of ways. Rick was talking with Glenn, and I noticed both Dixon's looking over at us. They both went back to skinning the squirrels and I watched as Dale cleaned up my hand and wrapped it up.

"Thank you," I murmured.

He gave me a smile, and got up to put his kit back. I turned to Harper who had her face buried in Carl's chest. He seemed slightly uncomfortably and unsure of what he was supposed to do to comfort her beside just hugging. I smiled at that.

"Harper it's okay. I'm okay, Carol's gonna be okay to, and Ed's not gonna hurt any of us. I won't let 'em," I stated, rubbing her back.

She sniffled and glanced up at me. She nodded her head.

"Hey why don't you and Carl play a game. But stay within my line of site if you do," I suggested.

Harper nodded her head, and Carl pulled her up off the ground.

"Come on Harper let's play tag," He exclaimed.

The two took off to play their game and I sighed.

"How bad did you beat him up?" Rick asked.

"Not too much, just enough to get my point across, though I did break his nose," I replied.

Rick nodded his head at that. He walked away from me and headed towards Shane, who had just come back to the camp. The two started talking and I decided to ignore them for now. I stood up and moved over to sit in front of mine and Harper's tent.

"So, you broke Ed's nose?" Merle questioned, smirking.

I glanced over at him. My tent wasn't that far away from his and Daryl's. I nodded my head.

"Shouldn't have hit Carol, ain't got no business treating his wife like that," I muttered.

Merle nodded his head at that. I watched as the two of them finished skinning the squirrel's and started cooking up the meat.

"So, the two of ya hunt for the group all the time? Or do the others hunt as well?" I questioned.

"Just us. The others don't hunt," Daryl murmured.

I glanced around the camp once more watching as Harper and Carl chased each other. I smiled at the sight…

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **Several hours later**_

I was cleaning my hunting knife and Sais, while Harper was taking a nap inside the tent. The poor thing had worn herself out playing with Carl. I finished cleaning my hunting knife as Amy and Andrea came back from the lake with a tone of fish in their hands.

"Oh, baby. Will you look at that? Hey, check it out. Ladies… Because of you my children will eat tonight. Thank you," Morales exclaimed.

I heard a snort come from Merle and I noticed the scowl on his face. I wonder if anyone had ever thanked them for hunting and bringing meat back to the camp for everyone to eat?

"Thank Dale, it's his canoe and gear," Andrea stated.

"Mom, look. Look at all the fish," Carl said excitedly.

"Thank you," Lori added.

By now everyone had gathered around the two sisters, well everyone but myself, Harper who was still asleep, and the Dixons. Everybody was excited at the thought of eating fish tonight. Me on the other hand, not so much, mostly because I'm allergic to fish unfortunately.

"I, ugh, I don't want to alarm anyone, but we may have a bit of a problem," Dale stated suddenly.

Shane moved towards Dale and Dale pointed up towards a hill where Jim was digging holes. Shane started walking towards Jim with everyone on his heels. I glanced into the tent at Harper, who was still asleep, then glanced back at the group of people moving away. I'm sure they can handle whatever's going on.

"Ya ain't gonna follow 'em?" Merle asked.

"No not really," I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

A few minutes later the group came back down. Rick and Shane brought a sobbing Jim to a tree and tied him up. Shane moved away and grabbed a water bottle before moving back over to Jim.

"Jim, drink some water?" Shane requested.

"All right," He replied.

"Yeah? All right. Here you go bud," Shane said, pouring some water into Jim's mouth.

"Pour some on my head?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, cooling you down, huh?" Shane replied, pouring the water over Jim's head.

"Yeah, how long you gonna keep me like this?" Jim questioned.

"Just until we don't think you're a danger to yourself or others," Rick stated.

"Sorry if I scared your boy and your little girl," Jim said, glancing over at Lori and Carol.

"You had sunstroke, nobody's blaming you," Lori replied.

"You're not scared now, are you?" Jim asked.

"No sir," Sophia said, shaking her head.

"Your mama's right, sun just cooked my head is all," Jim added.

"Jim, do you know why you were digging? Can you say?" Dale asked.

"I had a reason. Don't remember. Something I dreamt last night. Can't remember the rest," Jim answered.

He was digging holes because of a dream?

"All right, who wants to help me clean some fish, huh?" Shane asked suddenly.

"Sweet, come on Sophia," Carl shouted, jumping up.

The two raced after Shane with Carol right behind them.

"Hey Ava, wanna help us with the fish?" Rick asked. I shook my head.

"Can't I'm allergic to fish. Can't even touch 'em," I stated.

Rick's eyes went wide at that.

"Oh okay," He said, walking away.

A couple hours later everyone was gathered around the fire eating fish. Merle and Daryl were sitting in front of their own fire ignoring everyone else, while Harper and I were sitting next to our tent with our own fire. Harper had a plate of fish in front of her, while I had a plate of cooked squirrel in front of me. Pepper seemed to be enjoying the plate of fish that Harper had set in front of her. I watched as everyone talked and joked with each other. I had asked Harper if she wanted to sit with everyone else and she had just shaken her head no.

"Where are you going?" Andrea's sudden question had me glancing up from my food.

Amy was standing up and Andrea had ahold of her arm.

"I have to pee. Jeez, you try to be discreet around here…" Amy muttered, walking to the RV.

I smiled at that and shook my head while everybody around the fire laughed. Suddenly Pepper stopped eating and started hissing. She crouched down close to the ground and stared off towards the RV. I dropped my plate and pulled out my Sais and glanced over at the RV. The fire light cast a glow over the RV and I just barely noticed a shape slowly moving around the side of the RV. Suddenly the RV door opened and Amy stepped out.

"We're out of toilet paper," Amy shouted.

I surged forward, reaching Amy just as the walker grabbed her arm. Before it could bite her, I buried my Sais to the hilt in its skull. Amy shrieked as the walker fell to the ground in front of her taking my Sais with it. Gun shots rang out and I glanced around to see dozens of walkers moving around the camp.

"Get back in the RV," I shoved Amy backwards into the safety of the RV then turned to Harp, "Harper the RV now!"

Harper raced over towards me with Pepper right on her heels and the two ducked inside the RV. Andrea came running over to me her eyes wide in panic.

"She's fine get inside make sure they don't come out," I exclaimed, shoving her inside the RV.

I pulled my hunting knife out, and positioned myself in front of the RV door. People were screaming all around me. I noticed Rick and Shane protecting Lori, Carl, Sophia, and Carol.

"RICK! SHANE! Get them to the RV!" I screamed, taking out a walker that got to close.

Rick and Shane both glanced over at me, and the two started hurrying the two woman and kids towards me. Suddenly Daryl was standing beside me firing off arrows from his crossbow, and Merle was standing on my other side firing off a shotgun. Daryl silently shoved a Glock 17 into my hand. I held the gun in one hand and my hunting knife in the other. I shot a walker that was moving towards the RV. Rick and Shane reached the RV, and I quickly grabbed Carl and Sophia and pushed them inside. Carol and Lori climbed inside after them and I moved back in front of the door. I glanced over at Rick and Shane.

"Go get as many people as you can and bring them back here," I shouted, shooting three more walkers.

The two men took off running killing walkers as they went. It seemed like forever before all the walkers were taken out, but finally the gun fire stopped and all that could be heard was people crying. I put my hunting knife away and reached down and roughly yanked my Sais out of the walker's head. Damn and I just cleaned these things today! I glanced around the camp taking in all the bodies lying on the ground. Some were walkers and others were group members who had been killed by the walkers.

I saw T-Dog and Jacqui standing off to one side breathing heavily, nine walkers lying at their feet. Rick and Shane where standing over by the Morales tent. Morales and his family seemed fine. Dale was standing a little ways away from them staring down at a body on the ground. It took me a moment to realize that it was Jim. His throat had been ripped open and there was a gaping hole in his side. I sighed at that, I didn't know the man to well, but nobody deserved to die like that.

I turned back to the RV and stepped inside. Andrea and Amy where hugging each other tightly in the back of the RV. Lori had Carl in her arms frantically placing kissing on his head and murmuring things to him. Carol had both Sophia and Harper in her arms, both of whom were crying hysterically. Pepper was rubbing her head against Harper's and Sophia's faces.

"Is anybody hurt?" I asked.

A loud resounding no rang out and I practically sagged in relief. Harper jumped up and rushed over to me. I picked her up and held her close to me, glad that she was safe. I felt tears fall down my face. We'd lost a lot of people tonight, hell I could have lost Harper tonight, Amy almost got bit, and Jim's dead. I buried my face in Harper's hair, a sob breaking forth from me. In a matter of days these people had somehow managed to wiggle their way into my heart. Maybe it's because I've never had any friends before, or ever had anyone really care about me before.

The night had started out so nice, and had quickly gone to hell. Honestly if it hadn't been for Pepper warning me about the walkers we could have lost Amy as well. I might not know Amy to well but from being around her today I know she's a sweet innocent girl. I'm glad I could save her, but the fact that I couldn't save the others who had died weighed heavily on my heart…

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **AN: Okay so this chapter kicked my ass, especially the ending. For the life of me I could not get it typed out properly. I knew what I wanted to happen but I just couldn't figure out a way to get it typed out. But I finally managed to get it right… I hope. Review and let me know what you think!**_


	6. WildFire

_***Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. The only thing I own is my OC's Ava and Harper. ***_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **No Rest for the Undead**_

 _Chapter Six: Wildfire_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **Sunrise**_

I slammed the pickaxe down through the skull of one of our group members who'd been killed by a walker. The pickaxe made a loud squelching sound as it went through the man's skulls and I cringed. Daryl and Morales were carrying off bodies to be burned or buried, while Merle and I put pickaxes through the dead men's skulls. I noticed Shane and Rick standing off to one side quietly arguing over something. I scowled at Shane even though he couldn't see me. I'd warned him and he didn't listen to me. I turned back to the next body and stopped as I realized that it was Ed. His nose was bent to the side from when I broke it, and there was a large bruise around his left eye. His neck had been ripped open, and he was covered in dried blood. I was about to swing the pickaxe at his head when Carol stopped me.

"I'll do it. He's my husband," She stated.

I nodded my head and handed her the pickaxe. Carol took a deep breath and swung the pickaxe down on Ed's head repeatedly. Suddenly she collapsed to the ground sobbing. I kneeled next to her and wrapped my arms around her.

"Why don't we go inside the RV with the kids?" I suggested, helping her stand up.

I helped her into the RV and the two of us sat down. Neither of us said anything, instead we just sat there and watch Sophia and Harper as they slept. It had taken hours before we were able to get the two of them to fall asleep, but eventually they both had nodded off. Honestly, I was mad as hell! I'd warned Shane that this place wasn't safe anymore and he completely ignored me. He just rolled his eyes at me and dismissed what I had to say.

"I'm gonna go out and check up on everyone," I exclaimed, standing up.

Carol absentmindedly nodded her head, not even looking up at me. I stepped out of the RV and glanced around. Glenn was overseeing the pile of bodies that were being burned, while Daryl and Morales continued moving bodies into two different piles. Shane and Rick were still arguing and I scowled. I moved over to where the two were standing. They were arguing over where to go, but as I walked up the two stopped talking and looked over at me.

"You! This is your fault. I warned ya, I said this place wasn't safe anymore. Jim even said that the walkers were running out of food in the city, and Dale said ya'll hadn't seen one up this far before. Maybe that should have told you something! We should have left the moment that first walker wandered into camp," I stated, glaring daggers at the man.

"How dare you. Shane's done nothing but protect these people. What the hell have you done?" Lori shouted, moving over to us.

"I saved Amy. If I hadn't been as close to the RV as I was, and Pepper hadn't alerted me to the walkers Amy would 'a been bit. I also intervened when Ed hit Carol, which I doubt any of ya have done. Ya'll just sat back and let that man beat up on her when ya could 'a done something ta stop it. And like I said I warned Shane that we should move on but he ignored me cause he thought he knew best. If we had packed up and moved on none of this would have happened. But ya'll thought everything would be fine even after seeing that walker up here," I answered.

By now everyone had stopped what they were doing and were looking over at all of us.

"Girl's got a point! She did say it wasn't safe anymore, and all Shane did was roll his eyes at 'er and tell 'er we'd be fine," Merle exclaimed, smirking over at the man in question.

"How was I supposed to know a heard of those things would come up this way?" Shane defended.

"You weren't supposed ta know, but ya shoulda listened to the people in your group instead of brushing them off. Like I said before both Dale and Jim voiced concern over that walker being near camp. And like I said where there's one there's more, just like damn cockroaches. I was out there on my own for some time after the dead started walking. I'd seen it before. First you see one and then soon enough more follow. I said this place wasn't gonna be safe. You shoulda listened. Now Jim's dead," I growled.

I might not have known the man to well but it still made me sad that he was dead.

"He's the leader of the group. He made a choice," Lori defended.

"A leader listens to his people when they voice concerns. A leader considers the opinions of his people, not brush them off as if they were stupid children. A leader doesn't speak condescendingly to his people when they voice concerns. Ya'll been at this Quarry since damn near day one! I've been out there on my own dealing with all this shit so I know about these things. But all Shane did was brush me off and treat me as if I was paranoid," I countered.

By now Lori's face had gone red, and Shane was scowling. Rick on the other hand was just standing there wide eyed, mouth practically touching the ground.

"If you felt so strongly that this place wasn't safe then why didn't you just leave?" Shane questioned, taking a step towards me.

"Cause I wasn't bout to leave these kids in this group here and not know whether they were safe. I staid because I started to care about the people in this group and wanted to keep 'em safe," I shouted, taking a step towards him.

I wasn't about to let this man try to intimidate me. He had put all of us at risk by not listening to me about this place not being safe. Because of his decision Amy almost died, and Jim was dead along with several others of our group. Shane looked like he was about to say something else when Rick cut in.

"All right enough! There's no point in placing blame, what's done is done, all we can do now is move on. Pick up the pieces and learn from our mistakes," Rick stated.

I glanced over at Rick. He seemed conflicted. I could see that he agreed with me on the fact that Shane should have listened to me when I said this place wasn't safe, but Shane is still his friend and the man that saved his family. I nodded my head at him.

"Fine but next time I voice concerns about something and I get brushed off, I'm taking Harper and I'm leaving. I won't risk her life!" I replied.

I turned around and walked back into the RV. Carol was sitting by Sophia and Harper, gently running her fingers through both of their hair as they slept. Carol glanced up at me.

"Sorry for the shouting," I mumbled, sitting down next to her. She just smiled at me.

"It's all right. I can understand why you're angry," She said.

"Look Carol, I'm sorry about Ed dying last night. I may not have like him because of how he treated you but I know he was still your husband and that you still care about him," I exclaimed.

"Don't apologize. Yes, I loved him, but at the end he was a terrible person. He would beat me and Sophia. He wasn't like that in the beginning, he was really a great man. He used to try to sing to me even though he was a terrible singer. He'd buy me roses, and take me out to dinner whenever he could. And he absolutely adored Sophia when she was born, he always wanted to hold her and rock her. But a few years after Sophia was born he lost his job and couldn't find another one. He started drinking and gambling after that. We lost our house and had to move into a small mobile home, that's when he got nasty. I guess the only reason I stayed with him was because I hoped that the man he used to be was still in there somewhere. That maybe one day he'd wake up and be his old self, but he just got worse and worse instead," Carol explained, tears streaming down her face.

I quickly pulled her into a hug, letting her cry on my shoulder. Her story sounded somewhat similar to mine in a way. Mom was an amazing person before my dad and brother died, but afterwards she just lost it.

For a couple of hours Carol and I sat in the RV watching over the sleeping kids, and talking about our pasts. She told me all about how she first met Ed, their first date, first kiss, how he proposed to her, their wedding. In return I told her about my parents and brother, how dad and Aiden had died, and how mom had gone crazy. I told her everything about how mom raised and treated me. The two of us cried, and honestly it was the first time I'd ever actually truly connected with someone. In a way, Carol was like the mother I always wanted, and she kind of reminded me of how my mom used to be before she went crazy.

Eventually Sophia and Harper woke up and we left the RV to get them some food, before returning to the RV. The rest of the night was spent in the RV…

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **The Next morning**_

I stuffed the folded-up tent into my hiking bag and flung the bag over my shoulder. Everyone was packing their stuff up, getting ready to leave.

"Everybody listen up. Those of you with C.B.s, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a C.B. can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?" Shane announced.

"We're… ugh… we're… we're not going," Morales stated. I glanced over at the man in shock. They're not coming with us?

"We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people," Miranda explained.

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back," Shane said.

"We'll take the chance. I got to do what's best for my family," Morales replied.

"You sure?" Rick asked.

"We talked about it. We're sure," Morales confirmed.

"All right, Shane," Rick said, turning to Shane. Shane grabbed the gun bag and started rifling around it.

"357?" Rick asked.

"Yeah," Shane replied, handing Rick the gun. Rick handed the gun to Morales, and Shane handed him a small box of ammo.

"The box is half full," Shane stated.

"Thank you all… for everything," Miranda said, hugging Lori.

Everybody said their goodbyes to the Morales family, and then the small family left. Everybody started packing up their stuff and putting them in the cars. I just stood there with my bags not sure which car I'd be riding in. Suddenly my bags were yanked out of my hands and I turned to see Merle tossing them in the bed of a truck before moving over to a motorcycle. I stared at him for a moment not sure what to do.

"Well what are you waiting for girl, get in the damn truck," He shouted, starting up the motorcycle.

I watched as Daryl climbed into the driver seat of the truck. I shrugged my shoulders and picked up Harper and walked over to the truck. We sat in silence for the ride, the only sound was Pepper's purring as Harper petted her. It took several days of driving before we reached the CDC compound. The building was surrounded by corpses, and flies were swarming over every single one of them. We'd run out of food almost three days ago, and our gas was running low so I was glad we'd finally reached the building.

I stepped out of the truck, pulling my Sais, and glanced around at the bodies. All of them were badly decomposed, and a few were missing limbs. I glanced down at Harper, who was clinging to my leg, and sighed. This place does not look safe in the least bit.

"All right, everybody. Keep moving, go on. Stay quiet, let's go. Stay together," Shane ordered, moving forward.

I kept Harper close to me, Pepper right on our heels hissing the whole way. We reached the building which seemed to be locked down, large shutters blocking the doors. Shane pounded on the shutters obviously frustrated.

"There's nobody here," T-Dog stated.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick countered.

"Walkers!" Daryl shouted, shooting one that had started towards us.

"You led us into a damn graveyard!" Merle shouted, using his knife to take one down.

"He made a call," Shane defended.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl yelled.

I stabbed a walker through the eye with my Sai, then kicked it away from me.

"Just shut. You hear? Shut up. Rick, this is a dead end," Shane exclaimed.

"Where are we gonna go?" Jacqui asked.

"Do you hear me? No blame… Fort Benning, Rick… still an option," Shane stated, killing a walker.

"On what? No food, no fuel. That's a hundred miles," Andrea shouted.

"A hundred and twenty-five, I checked the map," Glenn stated.

"Forget Fort Benning, we need answers tonight, now," Lori exclaimed.

"We'll think of something," Rick said.

"Come on, let's go. Let's get out of here," Shane shouted, turning back towards the cars.

I picked up Harper and turned towards the truck, ready to make a mad dash for it when Rick's shouts caught my attention.

"The camera… it moved."

"You imagined it," Shane shouted.

"It moved!" Rick insisted. I glanced back at the doors and noticed the camera above them.

"Rick, it's dead, man. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down. Now come on," Shane stated.

Rick ignored him and started pounding on the shutters. Shane grabbed him around the waist and started dragging him away.

"I know you're in there. I know you can hear me. Please, we're desperate, help us. We have woman, children, no food, hardly and gas left," Rick pleaded, trying to pull away from Shane.

"Rick, there's nobody here," Lori shouted.

"You're killing us," Rick shouted over and over.

I was just about to take off running back to the truck when the doors opened, suddenly drowning us in a bright white light…

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **AN: So, I decided to add a little backstory for why Ed was the way he was, and why Carol stayed with him as long as she did. I also wanted to set up a relationship between Carol and Ava. Carol has been one of my favorite characters since I started watching the show, so I wanted them to be close. Also, Daryl and Merle are starting to warm up to Ava, mostly cause she's not afraid to take on Shane or anyone else. Hope ya'll enjoyed.**_


	7. TS-19 Part One

_***Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. The only thing I own is my OC's Ava and Harper. ***_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **No Rest for the Undead**_

 _Chapter seven: TS-19 Part One_

 _~(^.^)~_

The light was blinding and for a second I just stood there squinting my eyes at the opened doors.

"Daryl, Merle, cover the back," Shane shouted, moving inside the building.

Rick, Lori, and Carl followed him with Carol and Sophia hot on their heels. Dale, Andrea, Amy, T-Dog, Jacqui, and Glen moved into the building after them. I followed behind them with Merle and Daryl following me. As I entered the building I glanced around at the large empty space. I heard a gun cock and glanced up towards a set of stairs and noticed a man standing there with a rifle.

"Anybody infected?" The man questioned.

"No," Rick answered.

"Why are you here? What do you want?" The man asked. Rick glanced back at the group, his eyes lingering on his wife and son before glancing back at the man.

"A chance," Rick stated.

"That's asking an awful lot these days," The man muttered.

"I know," Rick said. The man looked us all over and sighed, shaking his head.

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission," The man conceded.

"We can do that," Rick agreed. The man finally lowered his gun.

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes it stays closed," He stated.

Everybody rushed to get their stuff but I already had everything I needed on me so I stood where I was waiting for everyone else. I observed the man in front of me. His clothes were rumpled an dirty, his hair was a mess of tangles, there were dark circles under his eyes, and a defeated dead look filled his eyes. I didn't like it one bit. He looked like a man who just ready and waiting to die. A man who wanted nothing more than to die, and it didn't sit well with me. I clutched Harper closer to me, gently running my hands through her hair. She was still upset from seeing all those corpses outside.

It took a few minutes but once everybody was ready we followed the strange man into an elevator. The elevator was crowded, and I stood in one corner of the small elevator trying to keep from being squashed.

"Rick Grimes," Rick introduced, holding his hand out to the man.

"Dr. Edwin Jenner," He replied, ignoring Rick's offered hand.

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl questioned suddenly.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough," Jenner glanced down at Carl, "Except you, I'll have to keep my eye on you."

Carl smiled slightly at this as Jenner chuckled hollowly. I eyed him suspiciously. Something about him is just off. Suddenly the elevator doors opened and Jenner stepped out. We all followed him down the hallway.

"Are we underground?" Carol asked.

"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner said.

"A little," Carol admitted.

"Try not to think about it," Jenner mumbled. We entered a large dark space filled with computers.

"Vi, bring up the lights in the big room," Jenner exclaimed. A humming noise moved through the room as the lights turned on.

"Welcome to zone five," Jenner said.

"Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?" Rick questioned.

"I'm it. It's just me here," Jenner answered.

"What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" Lori asked.

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them welcome," Jenner ordered, glancing up at the ceiling.

"Hello, guests. Welcome," A robotic female voice announced.

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry," Jenner stated.

If he's all that's left then that means there's no cure being made. Which means there's no hope of ending all this. I never really did believe that anyone would find a cure, and this is the proof right here…

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **A short time later**_

We were all sitting around a large table eating pasta. Jenner had taken a blood sample from all of us and afterwards had brought us to a cafeteria room to eat dinner. Someone had found several bottles of wine and everyone was drinking. Everyone but myself and the kids. Harper was sat next to me slowly eating her pasta, while Pepper was off to the side eating her own food from a bowl I'd set out.

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner, and in France," Dale stated, as he poured more wine for everyone.

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then," Lori replied, shaking her head.

"What's it gonna hurt? Come on," Rick added, nudging Lori. Dale laughed as Lori finally caved. Dale poured a little bit of wine into Carl's glass.

"There you are, young lad," Dale stated, setting the glass in front of Carl. We all watched as Carl sniffed the wine then took a small sip. His face scrunched in disgust and we all burst out laughing.

"Eww," Carl muttered, setting the glass down.

"That's my boy," Lori praised, pouring his wine into her glace.

"Yuck, that tastes nasty," Carl stated.

"Well, just stick to soda pop there, bud," Shane said, ruffling the kid's hair.

"Not you, Glenn. Keep drinking, little man. I wanna see how red your face can get," Daryl exclaimed.

I snickered at that. Glenn's face was red already and I can tell he gonna have one hell of a hangover in the morning. Suddenly Rick tapped his fork on his glass. I glanced over at him,

"It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly," Rick stated.

"He is more than just our host," T-Dog added.

"Hear, hear!" Dale announced.

"So, when are you gonna tell us what the Hell happened here, Doc? All the—the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?" Shane questioned suddenly.

"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now," Rick chided.

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move—supposed to find all the answers. Instead we—" Shane chuckled, "we found him. Found one man, why?"

"Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted," Jenner stated.

"Every last one?" Shane asked.

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They… opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time," Jenner muttered,

"You didn't leave. Why?" Andrea asked,

"I just kept working, hoping to do some good," He replied.

"Dude, you are such a buzz kill, man," Glenn said, glancing over at Shane.

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **Living Quarters**_

Jenner had shown us to the living quarters, and had even mentioned hot showers, which made everyone happy. Lori, Carl, and Rick had taken the room at the end of the corridor by the game room. Amy and Andrea had taken the one next to them, while Dale took the one across the hall from the two girls. T-Dog and Jacqui were in a room next to Amy's and Andrea's room. Mine and Harper's room was between the Dixon's room and Carol and Sophie's room.

I had managed to get Sophie a nice warm bath, and had finally gotten her settled into bed. She was exhausted from today's events and had fallen asleep easily, with Pepper curled up by her head. Now I was left to my own devices. I grabbed a change of clothes and moved into the bathroom. I stripped off all my weapons and clothes and stepped into the shower.

The water was warm and I could feel my muscles relax. I wet my hair and grabbed the small bottle of shampoo that I'd found in the bathroom. It was nice to finally be able to properly wash my hair. Dirt and walker blood flowed down my body and joined the water on the floor of the shower, slowly disappearing into the drain. I hadn't had an actual shower in weeks, sure I'd cleaned up a bit at the quarry but it wasn't like this. I stood under the hot shower spray for a few minutes after I was clean, just enjoying the feeling.

Eventually I turned the water off and dried off. I pulled on my clean clothes, put all my weapons back on, and grabbed my dirty clothes. I set my dirty clothes next to my bag on the floor, then glanced at Harper. She was still asleep, and she looked like an angel just lying there.

"Stay with her Pepper, I'll be right back," I whispered, petting Pepper. Pepper purred at the contact and sat her head on Harper's shoulder.

I kissed the top of Harper's head, then moved out of the room. I quietly shut the door then moved down the hallway. I wanted to take a look around this place. Something just felt off, but I wasn't sure what exactly. I ran into Rick who was making his way down the hallway.

"Hey Ava, see you've taken advantage of the showers," He stated, smiling. I nodded my head.

"Seems like you've done the same," I replied. His hair was still wet as was mine.

"Well night," He said, moving to the door of his room.

I watched him disappear into his room then started back down the hallway. I came up to the big room Jenner had first brought us to and noticed Jenner sitting in there alone. He was staring at a picture, a look of hopelessness adorning his face. He was quietly muttering to himself but I couldn't hear what he was saying. I glanced around the room and noticed a large clock counting down, but to what I had no idea.

The feeling of something being wrong hit me again and it made me nervous. Somehow, I felt as if we weren't going to be here much longer. If that's the case then we need to stock up on supplies. I turned and moved towards the cafeteria, determined to pack away some food in case we had to leave quickly tomorrow. When I entered the cafeteria, I saw Daryl and Merle already packing away some food into bags.

"Got the same feeling girly," Merle muttered, shoving some cans into a bag.

"Something just isn't right here," I stated. Both men nodded their heads. Honestly, I thought they had gotten drunk with the rest of the room.

"Yeah, the fact that Jenner's the only guy here," Daryl added. I moved to a cupboard and grabbed the cans out of it, shoving the canned food into a bag that Merle tossed me.

"Did either of you notice that big clock in the main room counting down?" I asked.

"Yeah, we saw it. Not sure what it's counting down to, but I don't like it," Merle answered.

"It'll time out sometime tomorrow," I stated.

They both nodded their heads. We worked in silence and after a few minutes we had cleared out half of the food supplies that were left. We left the cafeteria and headed to the infirmary that Jenner had shown us. We packed up a lot of the supplies into bags.

After that we walked back to our rooms. I stepped into my room and quietly shut the door behind me. Harper was still asleep thankfully. I set the bag down and laid down on the cot next to Harper's. Today had been a long day, and I was glad to be able to just relax for a little while…


	8. TS-19 Part Two

_***Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. The only thing I own is my OC's Ava and Harper. ***_

 _ **AN: I decided to split chapter seven into two chapters cause chapter seven was pretty long.**_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **No Rest for the Undead**_

 _Chapter Eight: TS-19 Part Two_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **The next morning**_

Everyone was gathered around the table in the cafeteria, eating eggs that T-Dog had made. Rick was one of the last one to appear in the cafeteria. The only other person missing was Shane.

"Hello," He said, sitting next to Lori.

"Morning," Dale replied.

"Are you hung over? Mom said you'd be," Carl asked.

"Mom is right," Rick answered, setting his head on the table.

"Mom has that annoying habit," Lori said, smirking.

"Eggs. Powdered, but—but I do 'em good," T-Dog exclaimed, dishing out some eggs to Rick.

Glenn moaned, and seemed to pale even more. I snickered and shook my head. That is the exact reason why I don't drink.

"I bet you can't tell, Protein helps the hangover," T-Dog said. All Glenn did was moan again, and Rick held up a bottle of aspirin and looked it over.

"Where'd all this come from?" Rick questioned.

"Jenner," Lori answered.

"Could you help me, please?" Rick asked.

Lori took the aspirin bottle from him and opened it. Harper tugged on my shirt and I glanced down at her.

"What is it sweaty?" I asked, leaning towards her.

"Bathroom," She mumbled. I nodded my head and stood up.

"Be right back," I stated, picking Harper up.

I walked back to the room with her and let her use the bathroom. It only took a few moments, and then we were walking back to the cafeteria. We walked back into the room and I noticed that Shane had made his way in while we were gone.

"What the Hell happened to you? Your neck?" T-Dog exclaimed suddenly, looking at Shane.

I glanced over at him. There were red scratches down the side of his head.

"I must have done it in my sleep," Shane replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Never seen you do that before," Rick stated.

"Me neither," Shane glanced over at Lori, "Not like me at all."

Lori didn't look up at him and just kept eating. I glanced between the two, guessing exactly how he got those scratches. A few minutes later Jenner walked into the room looking tired. He greeted everyone then grabbed a plate of eggs.

"Doctor: I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing—"

"But you will anyway," Jenner stated, cutting Dale off.

"We didn't come here for the eggs," Andrea quipped.

Jenner sighed, and lead us to the big room filled with computers. Jenner started typing on one of the computers.

"Give me a playback of TS-19," Jenner ordered.

"Playback of TS-19," VI announced.

There was a beep and a screen on the wall in front of us turned on showing a 3-D view of a human skull and brain.

"Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few," Jenner muttered.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked.

"An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for E.I.V." Jenner answered.

I glanced over at him at this. He looked heart broken and defeated as he stared at the screen.

"Enhanced internal view," VI announced.

The image on the screen zoomed in showing a more detailed version of the brain. It was lit with bright blue threads of what looked like energy. Some areas seemed to be lit up more than others.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked.

"It's a person's life—experiences, memories. It's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you—the thing that makes you unique and human," Jenner explained.

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl asked, shaking his head.

"Those are synapses. Electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says does or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death," Jenner stated.

"Death? That's what this is, a vigil?" Rick questioned.

"Yes. Or rather the playback of the vigil," Jenner replied.

"This person is dead?" Amy asked, her voice wavering. Andrea pulled her sister closer to her, wrapping an arm around the girl.

"Who was it?" Andrea asked.

"Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected… and volunteered to have us record the process. VI, Scan forward to the first event," Jenner said.

"Scanning to first event," VI announced.

The screen showed the words 'scanning forward', and the lights in the brain started to flicker out, and seemed almost as if black roots had grown within the brain.

"What is that?" Glenn asked.

"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be…gone," Jenner muttered.

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia questioned quietly.

I flinched at the mention of Jim. The fact that I wasn't able to protect him, to keep him alive weighed on me heavily.

"Yes," Carol murmured. Amy stifled a sob, and buried her head in Andrea's shoulder.

"I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is… Scan to the second event," Jenner said.

The look of hopelessness deepened in his eyes and it hit me. This was the person he lost, we were watching their death.

"Scanning to second event," VI announced.

"The resurrection times vary wildly. We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute… seven seconds," Jenner explained.

Red tendrils of light flickered into existence at the base of the brain, while everything else staid dark. Random sparks shot out into the rest of the brain every now and then.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori questioned horrified.

"No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving," Jenner answered.

"But they're not alive?" Rick said, not really sounding sure of himself.

"You tell me," Jenner said, gesturing to the monitor.

"It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark," Rick replied, shaking his head.

"Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part—that doesn't come back. The you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct," Jenner droned, sitting down in a chair by a computer.

The person on the screen started moving, opening and closing its mouth in an attempt to bite at something we couldn't see. Suddenly the barrel of a gun appeared in the footage and a bullet ripped through the persons brain. The clusters of red embers around the brain stem went dark and the person stopped moving.

"God. What was that?" Carol asked.

"He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you?" Andrea guessed.

"VI, Power down the main screen and the workstations," Jenner ordered.

"Powering down main screen and workstations," VI announced. The main screen shut off.

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea questioned.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal," Jenner muttered.

"Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui said quietly.

"There is that," Jenner conceded.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was the wrath of god. After all the things that humanity has done to itself, and the planet. I sighed.

"Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere," Andrea stated.

"There are others, right? Other facilities?" Carol asked.

"There may be some. People like me," Jenner replied.

"But you don't know? How can you not know?" Rick questioned, his voice rising.

"Everything went down. Communications, directives—all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month," Jenner explained.

"So, it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?" Andrea said.

"Jesus," Jacqui exclaimed.

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but…that clock—it's counting down. What happens at zero?" Dale asked.

"I've been wondering the same thing all night," I muttered.

"The basement generators—they run out of fuel," Jenner answered.

"And then?" Rick asked. Jenner just ignored us and walked out of them room.

"VI, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick asked, glancing up at the ceiling.

"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur," VI announced.

I paled at that. I didn't know exactly what that meant, but I got the feeling it wasn't good. Rick, T-Dog, Glenn, and Shane rushed out of the room to go take a look at the generators.

"Everybody go grab your stuff. We might have to leave in a hurry," I exclaimed, picking up Harper.

I rushed out of the room and back to the room I'd slept in last night. I set Harper down and gathered up our bags. I'd left the big camping bag in Daryl's truck so the only bags I had was my sling bag with mine and Harper's clothes, and the bags that I'd filled with supplies last night. I flung the bags onto my back and grabbed Harper. I walked out into the hallway and noticed everyone moving out of their room with their stuff. Jenner walked down the hall past us.

"Why is the air off?" Carol questioned.

"And the lights in our room?" Lori added.

"Energy use is being prioritized," Jenner answered.

"Air isn't a priority? And lights?" Dale exclaimed.

"It's not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down," Jenner stated.

"Hey! Hey, what the Hell does that mean?" Daryl shouted.

Jenner just kept walking.

"Hey, we're talking to you. What the hell do you mean it's shutting itself down?" Merle shouted.

Rick, T-Dog, Glenn, and Shane came running up behind us. We followed Jenner into the big room. Rick walked up to Jenner

"Jenner, what's happening?" Rick asked.

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark. Right on schedule," Jenner explained.

I glanced up at the clock which showed only thirty minutes left.

"It was the French," Jenner stated suddenly, glancing at Andrea.

"What?" Andrea asked, confused.

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs till the end. They thought they were close to a solution," Jenner explained.

"What happened?" Jacqui asked.

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?" Jenner muttered.

"Let me tell you—"

"To Hell with it, Shane. I don't even care. We're getting out of here now!" Rick announced, cutting Shane off.

An alarm blared and I flinched at sudden loud noise.

"What's that?" Shane and Carl asked at the same time.

"30 minutes to decontamination," VI announced.

"Doc, what's going on here?" Daryl asked.

"Everybody, y'all heard Rick," Shane shouted, turning towards the exit.

I bent down and let Pepper jump up onto my shoulder, tightened my grip on Harper, and started towards the exit with everyone else. Suddenly there was a whirring sound and a clang, and a security door slid down blocking our exit. I slide to a stop and stared at the door. What the hell?

"No. Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in!" Glenn shouted.

"We've hit the 30-minute window. I'm recording," Jenner stated.

Everybody was shouting, Merle was trying to bust down the door, but I just stood there staring at the door. How could he do this to us? I felt anger bubble up within me and I turned to glare at Jenner.

"Hey, Jenner, open that door now," Rick pleaded, holding back Daryl from attacking Jenner.

"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed," Jenner stated.

"Well, open the damn things," Dale shouted.

"That's not something I control. The computers do. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that. It's better this way," Jenner replied.

"What is? What happens in 28 minutes?" Rick questioned.

"You know what this place is?! We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" Jenner shouted, his face going red. He shook his head and sat down.

"In the event of a catastrophic power failure—in a terrorist attack, for example—H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out," Jenner continued.

"H.I.T.s?" Rick asked.

"VI, define," Jenner ordered.

"H.I.T.s—high-impulse thermo baric fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen at between 5,000 degrees and 6,000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired," VI announced.

Jenner: "It sets the air on fire. No pain," Jenner explained.

I felt my blood run cold. Carol and Sophia started crying, and Harper clung to me tighter.

"An end to sorrow, grief…regret. Everything," Jenner whispered.

Daryl made another lunged at the man. Then Shane and T-Dog joined Merle at the door, trying to break it open. I felt angry that this man felt he had the right to decide for us on whether we lived or died. I wanted so bad to run over there and hurt this man, but I know I can't do that. He's the only one who can open that door.

"You should've left well enough alone it would have been so much easier," Jenner added.

"Easier for who?" Lori shouted.

"All of you. You know what's out there. A short brutal life and an agonizing death. You know what this does. You've seen it. Is that what you really want for your wife and son?" Jenner questioned, turning to Rick.

"I don't want this!" Rick shouted, emphatically.

"Can't make a dent," Shane growled, hitting the door with an axe.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher," Jenner stated.

"Well, your head ain't!" Daryl shouted, rushing at Jenner with an axe.

Dale, Rick, and Shane all grabbed hold of him, and kept him back. Merle went to charge at Jenner, and I quickly set Harper down and race in front of him.

"Stop, he's the only one that can let us out of here. He can't do that if you kill him," I shouted. Merle paced for a moment looking like a caged animal, before he turned back to the door and started kicking at it.

"This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event," Jenner stated suddenly. I picked up Harper once again, and hugged her close to me. She was crying silently, and her whole body shook from her crying.

"This isn't right. You can't just keep us here," Carol cried.

"One tiny moment—a millisecond. No pain," Jenner replied.

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this," Carol stated.

"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate just to hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Jenner asked.

"I think you're lying," Rick exclaimed.

"What?" Jenner asked, looking up at Rick.

"You're lying about no hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?" Rick explained.

"It doesn't matter," Jenner denied.

"It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?" Rick asked.

"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise," Jenner pointed at the screen, "To her. My wife."

"Test subject 19 was your wife?" Lori asked.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no? She was dying. It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein. Me? I'm just… Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me," Jenner answered.

"Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's—that's all we want—a choice, a chance," Rick requested.

"Let us keep trying as long as we can," Lori added.

"I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those," Jenner conceded.

Jenner stood up and walked over to a security pad and typed something into it. The doors opened and everybody started to rush out.

"Let's go!" Glenn shouted.

I raced out of the room, clinging tightly to Harper. I could feel Peppers claws digging into my shoulder but I didn't care, the only thing on my mind was getting out of here. We got up to the lobby but like Jenner said the exit was blocked. I did a quick head count to see if we had everyone, and only came up one person short, Jacqui. She must have decided to stay behind. Everyone was yelling, and trying to get the doors open. T-Dog tried throwing a chair at the window, but it didn't do anything.

"Dog, get down! Get down!" Shane shouted, cocking his shotgun.

He fired a round at the glass, but it didn't even make a crack in the window. Damn that's some strong glass. Fucking hell.

"Jesus," Shane muttered.

"The glass won't break?" Sophia asked, glancing up at her mom. Carol started rooting around in her bag for something.

"Rick, I have something that might help," Carol exclaimed. I moved towards her and saw her pull out a grenade. Holy shit where did she get that.

"Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it," Shane snarked, not even looking at her. I felt anger rising me once again. Did Shane learn nothing, about listening to his people, from the incident at the Quarry?

"Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform I found this in your pocket," Carol explained, holding out the grenade.

Wait that's the grenade Rick got from the tank. Holy shit, she kept that? Rick looked stunned as he took the grenade from her. Carol pulled Sophia away and I followed her away from the window.

"Look out!" T-Dog shouted.

We all took cover while Rick tossed the grenade. The ground shook for a second, and glass went flying everywhere. Only one of the windows shattered but it was enough for us to get out. We all raced outside, and took off for the vehicles. Rick, Shane, Daryl, and Merle had formed a sort of circle around the rest of the group and was taking out any walkers that got in our way.

We reached the vehicles after a few moments of running. Everybody dove into their vehicles. I shoved Harper into Daryl's truck, and climbed in after her.

"Get down!" Rick shouted, jumping into the RV.

I ducked down using my body to cover Harper and Pepper, who had climbed off my shoulder to lying on Harper's lap. I felt someone throw themselves over me. A loud deafening boom sounded, the ground shook violently, and I could feel the heat from the explosion. After a moment, the person lying over top of me sat up, and I sat up as well and realized that it had been Daryl that had covered me.

I glanced over at the place where the CDC used to be. It was nothing but smoking rubble. Daryl started up the truck and peeled off with the rest of the group right behind us. I sunk back into the seat and let out the breath I'd been holding. Harper crawled into my lap and I hugged her, and buried my face in her hair.


	9. What lies ahead Part One

_***Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. The only thing I own is my OC's Ava and Harper. ***_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **No Rest for the Undead**_

 _Chapter Nine: What Lies Ahead; Part One_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **Highway, Daryl's Truck**_

We'd been traveling on the highway for almost two days now, to get to fort Benning. We were running low on gas, but thanks to Merle, Daryl, and I raiding the CDC we had enough food to last us for several more weeks. We'd run into several traffic jams from all the abandoned cars, and had to spend time pushing cars off to the side of the road, which made this trip so much longer than it should be. Merle was currently using his bike to guide the RV through the current traffic snarl we'd come across, that is he was until the radiator hose burst once again and the RV stopped. I sighed as everyone stopped their cars and stepped out to get a look at the RV.

"I said it, didn't I say it? A thousand times, dead in the water," Dale exclaimed, glaring at the RV.

Smoke was pouring out of the front of the RV, and Merle had his head stuck under the hood looking at the damage. After a moment, he stepped away from the RV and glanced around.

"Good thing there's a shit tone of cars around here for us to get the parts we need!" Merle stated.

"I can siphon more fuel from these cars," T-Dog offered.

"We can scavenge for supplies to," I muttered, glancing around at all the abandoned cars.

"This is a graveyard. I don't know how I feel about this," Lori exclaimed, biting her nail.

I rolled my eyes at that. Is she being serious right now?

"Their dead. They ain't using their stuff no more. I don't think they'd mind us taking their stuff," I replied. Lori scowled at me and looked like she was about to say something when Shane cut her off.

"Come on, ya'll. Just look around, gather what you can," He ordered.

I glanced around at all the cars, and all the dead bodies, then glanced down at Harper. Harper was looking around the area with wide watery eyes. I grabbed Harper's hand and moved over to the RV, were Dale had set up watch on top.

"Dale is it okay if Harper sits up there with ya while I scavenge for supplies?" I asked, glancing up at the man.

"That's fine, she can sit up here and help me keep watch," Dale replied, nodding his head.

I helped Harper up onto the top of the RV, then picked up Pepper and handed her over to Harper.

"Keep an eye on Pepper for me okay. And do what Dale says," I stated, kissing her on the forehead.

I climbed down from the RV, and started searching through the cars. I found a couple protein bars in one car, a can of unopened soup in another, and a pair of sturdy brown hiking boots that looked like they'd fit Sophie. I remember Carol saying something about how old and worn out Sophie's shoes were, so these would be perfect. I glanced around and quickly found Sophie standing by a car near Carl. I quickly made my way over to her.

"Hey, Sophie, I found some boots for ya," I exclaimed, holding them out to her. Sophie smiled brightly at me and took the boots from me.

"Would you help me get them on?" She asked.

"Yeah sure, sit down," I replied, sitting down on the ground in front of her. I pulled off her old worn out sneakers, and put the boots on her feet. I tied them up, then helped Sophie stand up.

"How do they feel?" I asked. Sophie took a couple steps and smiled.

"They're great, they fit perfectly!" She exclaimed, flinging herself at me in a hug.

"Walkers!" Rick whisper shouted.

I glanced up at him, then turned to look behind me. All the blood drained from my face at the sight of the wall of walkers headed towards us. I glanced around and saw everyone crawling under the cars, so I grabbed Sophie and pulled her under one. I held her close to me, as feet started shuffling past us. I could see Lori and Carol lying under a car just across from us. Carol was in tears, and Lori had her hand over Carol's mouth to keep her from making any noise.

The sound of shuffling feet and groaning was all that could be heard, and I felt nervous. I was scared for the group, and I wasn't sure if everyone had managed to find a place to hide. My only consolation was that Harper was safe up on the RV with Dale. Slowly the heard of walkers seemed to thin out, and there were less and less feet shuffling past the car. It seemed like the heard was just going to pass us by.

It looked like the last of the walkers had passed by us, but I didn't want to take a chance on crawling out and there still being walkers. But before I could say anything to her Sophia had crawled out halfway from under the car. She was stopped by a walker lunging at her, and I swiftly grabbed her by the ankle and yanked her back under the car away from the walker. The walker started crawling under the car, joined by another one.

I pulled Sophia out from under the car on the other side, only to see a walker making its way around the car towards us. I shoved Sophia over the guardrail, then climbed over after her. By now we had five walkers moving towards us. There was no way I could take out all five of them and protect Sophia at the same time, so I picked Sophia up and took off running into the woods.

I ran as fast as I could, hoping to lose the walkers that were chasing us. It felt like I was running for hours before I finally slowed down and realized that the walkers were no longer behind us. I feel to my knees, gasping for air. My lungs and legs hurt from running so fast for so long. Sophia was clinging tightly to me and had her head buried in my neck. She was crying hysterically, and I held onto her tighter.

"It's okay Sophia, we've lost 'em," I murmured, glancing around me.

I had absolutely no idea where we were, or where the highway was. I wasn't as good of a tracker as my mom was. It was one of the few skills that she tried to teach me that I just could never pick up. I had no idea how to get back to the highway from here. Damn why didn't I pay more attention to where I was going?

"I want mommy," Sophia cried softly. I rubbed her back to comfort her.

"Don't worry, I'll get ya back to ya mom. Now we have ta start walking and I need both my hands in case we run into any walkers so ya gonna have to walk. I want ya to stay close to me though okay," I instructed.

Sophia sniffed and glanced up at me, then nodded her head.

"All right," I mumbled.

I stood up and pulled out my Sias. I made a quick mark in the tree right next to me before turning back towards the direction I'd come from and started walking. Every now and then I'd leave a mark on a tree so that I'd know where I'd been and what direction we'd gone. We walked and walked and walked for what felt like hours, and still I couldn't see the highway. It was starting to get dark, and I was worried that we'd have to spend the night out here. Suddenly a gun shot rang out and I spun wildly towards the direction it came from.

"Was that a gun?" Sophia asked, clinging to my leg.

"Yeah, it was," I murmured.

Nobody in the group would fire off a gun to take out a walker, they'd use something quitter. Which meant that gun shot came from someone else. With my experience with people since all this happened, and mom's voice in the back of my head, I turned and pulled Sophia off in the opposite direction from the gun shot. I wasn't going to take the chance on running into someone dangerous. I wasn't going to put Sophia in danger like that…

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **A short while later**_

The sun had set, and I'd given up hope of not having to spend the night in the woods. I could tell with each passing second Sophia was becoming more and more terrified. I sighed and kneeled down next to her.

"We're not gonna make it back to the highway tonight. We're gonna have to sleep in one of these trees," I explained, setting my hands on her shoulders.

Tears rolled down her face and she shook in fear.

"We'll be fine. The walkers won't be able to get us in the tree, they can't climb, so we'll be safe for the night," I stated, whipping away some of the tears.

Sophia nodded her head and I quickly picked out a tree for us to sleep in. Once I had one selected I helped Sophia up onto the first branch. We climbed up the tree almost to the top, before picking out a branch to sleep on. Sophia sat in my lap, and I was leaned back against the tree with my arms around Sophia keeping her in place.

Sophia must have been really tired because she fell asleep almost instantly. I sat there staring up at the sky through the tree line. The sky was lit with stars, and a cool breeze blew through the trees. I could hear the sound of animals and walkers moving through the forest around me. Everything seemed so calm and peaceful. I wasn't going to be sleeping tonight, instead I was going to be keeping watch…

~(^.^)~

 _ **AN: And…Cliffhanger! Well so far Sophia is fine, but that could change at any moment. Review and let me know what ya'll think!**_


	10. What lies ahead Part Two

_***Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. The only thing I own is my OC's Ava and Harper. ***_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **No Rest for the Undead**_

 _Chapter Ten: What Lies Ahead; Part Two_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _The sound of glass shattering startled me awake. I glanced towards my bedroom door in worry, as mom's voice rang through the house. She was shouting and cursing at nothing, and I knew instantly that she was drunk. I curled up, and pulled the blanket up over my head._

' _Please, please, please, don't come in here,' I chanted in my head repeatedly._

 _Mom was violent when drunk, and she had a tendency to hit me and break things. I was short for a thirteen-year-old, and even though I'd been trained to fight most of my life, I was no match for mom if I'd been bad and she decided to punish me._

" _AVA! Get your ass out here now!" Mom screamed._

 _I winced at the shout, and I could feel myself shaking in fear. I slowly crawled out of my bed, and walked out into the hallway. I moved towards the living room, and peered around the wall. Mom was standing in the middle of the living room, broken lamps and over turned end tables surrounding. She glanced up at me, her eyes clouded and angry._

" _Get over her, now!" She growled._

 _I silently walked over to her, looking down at the ground as I walked. What had I done now? I thought over the past couple days, but couldn't come up with anything. Suddenly mom grabbed me by my hair and yanked me towards her. I cried out in pain, as she pulled on my hair, and I glanced up at her._

" _You're useless you know that! You can't even track right. We lost that dear today cause o' ya," She slurred._

 _I whimpered. No matter how much mom tried to teach me I just couldn't get the hang of it._

" _I'm sorry momma," I cried._

" _Useless, I swear, I don't know why I put up with ya. You can't do anything right," She shouted, yanking on my hair once more._

 _Suddenly she pulled out her pocket knife and had it up against my throat. I tried to pull away from her but her grip was too tight. I felt the knife dig into my collar bone and I screamed in pain…_

I sat up, sweat pouring down my face, gasping for air. I clutched my Sais in my hands and glanced around me. It took me a moment to realize I was sitting on the floor of an abandoned house in front of a closet door. A closet that Sophia was sleeping in. I slumped back against the door, and tried to catch my breath. It had been two days since the walkers had chased us into the woods, and we were no closer to the highway. We'd found the house shortly before dark, and I figured it was a good place to rest for the night.

At some point, I must have fallen asleep. I shook my head as my dream floated back to me. Of all the memories of the things mom has done to me why had that been the one I'd dreamed about? Maybe it was because once again my inability to track left me useless to do anything right.

I glanced down at my chest, and pulled my shirt away slightly. A long silver scar made its way from my collar bone and twisted down under my arm pit. It was a constant reminder of just how useless I was… no of how crazy mom had gone after dad and Aiden's death. I'm not useless, it wasn't my fault! She was wrong, and she shouldn't have treated me the way she did. I shook my head. I thought I'd gotten over this, but apparently I was wrong. Apparently mom was still there in the back of my mind to call me useless and stupid.

"Ava?" Sophia whispered suddenly, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I stood up and opened the door. Sophia stared up at me wide teary eyes. I knelt in front of her, and sighed. I had no time to feel sorry for myself, I had to focus on getting this little girl back to her mom.

"What's wrong Sophia?" I asked quietly.

"I'm hungry," She whimpered, tears finally rolling down her face.

My bag had been left in Daryl's truck, so the only thing I'd had on me when we'd been chased into the woods was the protein bars and the one can of soup I'd found while scavenging. Between the two of us we'd eaten both of those things the past two days. So, I had nothing to offer her.

"I know sweetie, I know. I've got a good feeling about today, I'm sure we'll make it back to the highway today. And I'm sure your mom will have some food for you," I said, pulling her into a hug.

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **A few hours later**_

We'd been walking for hours and didn't seem to be any closer to the highway. We were currently walking along a ridge above a small river bank. I could tell Sophia was getting tired, and I was starting to feel tired as well. But I knew we had to keep going, we had to get back to the highway today. We had no food, and I know Sophia couldn't keep going for much longer.

A hissing sound reached my ears and I glanced down at the ground and noticed a diamondback rattle snake lying on the ground in front of me. It was hissing and looked ready to strike, and Sophia was standing way to close to it for my liking.

"Sophia get back," I exclaimed, yanking her backwards away from the snake.

The movement seemed to anger the snake, and it lashed out. I jumped back, just barely avoiding being bitten. Unfortunately for me I stepped to close to the edge of the ridge. My foot slipped and I found myself tumbling down the embankment. One moment I was standing at the top of the ridge, the next I was lying on the ground at the bottom of it. My head was spinning, black spots were forming in my vision, and I could feel pain radiating through my body.

My shoulder hurt something fierce, and I tried to sit up, but immediately collapsed. It hurt too breath, it hurt too move, hell it just hurt! My vision was fuzzy, and black spots seemed to float all around me. I could just barely hear someone shouting, but everything was to jumbled for me to make out. I groaned as more and more black spots appeared in my vision. Then suddenly someone appeared next to me, and it took me a moment to realize who it was.

"Sophia?" I slurred, trying once more to sit up.

I managed to sit up slightly using my left arm, but the second I put weight on my right arm I gasped in pain. Something was wrong with my right arm, but I couldn't tell what. Something shook my left shoulder and I glanced over to see Sophia staring at me worriedly. She was trying to say something but my ears were ringing so badly I couldn't make out what it was. I squinted at her, trying to read her lips, but my vision was to blurry.

"A..a.. pl..s.. Av.."

Everything went dark for a moment, and when I opened my eyes I could see Sophia staring down at me once more. Tears were rolling down her face, and she looked panicked.

"Ava, please, you have to get up," She pleaded, shaking my good shoulder.

I groaned as sharp pain radiated around my shoulder and lower abdomen. I took a second to look over myself at my injuries, and cringed when I saw one of my Sais embedded in my abdomen. I reached out and yanked the Sai out of my abdomen, and blood started pouring sluggishly out of the wound. I ripped off the bottom of my shirt and used it as a bandage. Next I glanced at my shoulder and realized that it must have been pulled out of the socket during my tumbled down the embankment. Sophia screamed suddenly and I glanced up to see a walker slowly making its way towards us.

I felt adrenaline rush through me, and I jumped up and quickly buried the Sai in the walker's eye. I slid to the ground with the walker, panting. God, my whole body hurt. Everything went black for a second and when I opened my eyes again Sophia was sitting next to me holding out my other Sai that I must have dropped when I tumbled down the embankment. I smiled and slowly took it from her and placed it in its holster. I wouldn't be able to use it with my right arm out of commission for now. Sophia stared at me concerned.

"I'm okay, just need to catch my breath," I stated, pulling my other Sai out of the walker's face.

I glanced at the dead walker as I tried to gain my bearings. I had no time to sit here, and I couldn't afford to let my injuries slow me down. Sophia's life was at stake, and I wasn't about to let her get hurt. I yanked the other Sai out of the walkers eyes, and attempted to stand but fell back on my ass once more. Sophia pulled my good shoulder around her own shoulders and slowly helped me up off the ground. It took me a few minutes to steady myself.

"I'm good… we have to get moving," I muttered.

Sophia just nodded her head, and I slowly limped forward, trying my best to ignore the searing pain in my abdomen. As we walked I tried to stay focused but the world kept tilting and swaying. The only thought on my mind was getting Sophia back the highway, back to her mom. I had no idea how long we'd been walking for, the only thing I was sure of was that Sophia was still walking beside me. I was running on adrenaline and determination to keep this little girl safe, wounds be damned.

"Ava! Ava!"

Sophia's voice broken through the haze surrounding me. I glanced down at her wondering what was wrong. I glanced around, wondering if there were walkers around. It took me a moment to realize we had reached a clearing, and I could see a barn and a farm house a short distance away. Maybe we could stay here for the night. Lord knows I need to sit down and try to patch myself up.

"Come on Sophia, let's check out the farm house," I whispered.

Sophia grabbed my arm and we slowly walked towards the farm house. Something was bothering me, but I couldn't figure out what. Something to do with the house not too far away. My head was to jumbled up. I felt frustrated. There was something I should be doing, but what? Suddenly I heard shouts coming from ahead of me and I squinted trying to focus on the sound. I could make out a small group of people racing towards us, and I felt terror race through me.

What if these people weren't friendly? Shit that's what I was forgetting. I didn't stop to check if this place had people already hiding out in it. I just walked right out into the open with Sophia and started towards a group of potentially dangerous people. I pushed Sophia behind me, and raised my Sai ready to defend us. I might be injured, but I would fight to the death to protect Sophia. I'd give her enough time to run off and find some place to hide.

As the people got closer I realized that they weren't strangers. It was Rick, Shane, T-Dog, Daryl, and Merle running towards us. Relief washed over me at the sight, and I let my arm drop back down to my side. Thank god! They were shouting something but I was having a hard time focusing on what they were saying. Suddenly something went flying by my head, and I was knocked to the ground…

"No... Ava. A..a l..ok .. me."

Flashes of people's faces raced across my vision.

"G..t ..er in t..e h..use…"

Someone was carrying me.

"Sh… l..s.. f.. bl..od…"

Pain was all I felt.

"Can… help ..er?"

Someone was standing over me.

"I.. .. my ..est."

Grey hair and beard, blue eyes.

Wait… I know those eyes… I know that face… Is that…

"U… un… uncle Hershel?"

Everything faded away and I was left in total darkness…

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **Dun, Dun, Dunun. Okay so raise of hands, who saw that coming?! Anyone? Anyone at all? Okay so I was thinking of writing in someone else's P.O.V. for the beginning of the next chapter. What do ya'll think? Yes? No? and if yes who's P.O.V. should I do?**_


	11. Interlude

_***Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. The only thing I own is my OC's Ava and Harper. ***_

 _ **AN: I'd like to thank ThreeDarkAngels for suggesting I do Hershel's P.O.V. for this chapter. I was having a bit of writer's block on this one and that suggestion was what got me through it!**_

 _ **AN2: Okay so I decided to split chapter seven into two chapters so this chapter is one that has already been posted before!**_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **No Rest for the Undead**_

 _Chapter Eleven: Interlude_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **Hershel's P.O.V.**_

Anger. Fear. Worry. The only things I've felt since Rick and his group showed up on my farm. Ever since Rick came racing up to the house with his boy in his arms, begging for my help. I'd sympathized with him, and his group. The problem was that I didn't know any of them, and I didn't trust any of them. I especially didn't trust Shane. He seemed volatile, and left me feeling uneasy. But I couldn't just kick them off the farm, not till that boy is back on his feet, and they find their two missing group members. Sophia and Ava, I believe are their names.

Ava. The second I'd heard the name my niece came to mind. God how I missed that girl. I knew it was a long shot that the girl they were talking about could be my little Ava. But I couldn't help but hold out hope. Liam Greene, her father, and I were always close growing up. I was his best man at his wedding, and I was there when little Ava was born. Not only was I her uncle but I was also her Godfather. I was also named Aideen's Godfather as well when he was born. Liam's and Aideen's deaths had left me heart broken. Which only made it hurt more when Abigail took Ava away.

Abigail had been a marine, fighting in Iraq before she met my brother. She'd been shot and had been honorably discharged about a year before she met Liam. She was a strong woman, and had loved my brother dearly. His and Aideen's death had hit her hard. She'd told me she wanted to move away from all the memories, so, one day she just packed up and left with Ava. She wouldn't let me visit in person, but she would send me letters with pictures of Ava throughout the years. I would write back as much as I could, and send photos of the rest of the family to her.

It wasn't until sometime after Ava turned eighteen that I finally got to see her in person again. I'd gotten a call from the police asking me to come to the hospital not too far from the farm. When I'd gotten there, I was told that Abigail had gone crazy and had almost killed Ava, and one of the responding officers had to shoot her. She was killed instantly, and Ava was brought to the hospital for an evaluation. Since I was the only other family she had, I was called.

I was saddened to hear of Abigail's death, but I was happy to finally get to see my Niece after all those years. When I'd stepped into the hospital room, Ava had been sitting on the bed in the middle of the room. She looked so thin, and she was so pale. It looked like even the smallest breeze would knock her over. She was staring out the window, tears rolling down her face. She had turned to look at me, and then suddenly she was in my arms sobbing. She'd been a mess, a black eye, numerous scars, underweight, matted hair, and for the first couple weeks she didn't say a single word.

For the next two years she stayed on the farm with me, before she left to travel. She wanted to explore, and do things Abigail never let her do, but she always came back to visit. Her, Maggie, and Beth had grown close, and whenever Ava visited they were inseparable.

A commotion outside drew me out of my thoughts, and I walked out onto the porch. I could see Rick, Shane, T-Dog, Merle, and Daryl all running down one of the fields towards the tree line. I glanced past them and noticed someone limping out of the woods. The person was too far away for me to make out a face, or to tell if they were a 'walker' as Rick's group would call them. The group of men reached the tree line quickly and they all stopped.

Suddenly a gun shot rang out and the figure fell. Rick's scream pierced the air, and he dropped to the ground next to the figure. Who the hell fired a gun on my farm? It didn't matter right now, all that mattered was to help this new person. The new person that was being carried towards me by Daryl. It didn't take long for the man to reach the porch.

The second I saw the unconscious persons face I felt all the blood drain from my face. There was blood matted into the blonde locks, and smeared across her face, but there was no doubt that was my little Ava. I was so focused on Ava that I just barely noticed Rick's group gathering around me.

"Ava…" I whispered, staring wide eyed at her.

"You know her?" Daryl questioned with narrowed eyes.

She looked so small and fragile in his arms.

"She's… she's my niece," I answered.

"Your niece!" Shane shouted, looking dumb founded.

"We don't have time for this. She's hurt… bad. She needs medical attention," Daryl shouted, scowling at the man.

"Get her in the house," I ordered, rushing inside.

I led them to Ava's room, and Daryl set her down on the bed. I looked her over, assessing her injuries. I took note of the wounds on her abdomen and head, and the dislocated shoulder.

"She's lost a lot of blood," I muttered.

"Can you help her?" Rick questioned, worry plastered across his face.

"I'll do my best," I replied.

Suddenly Ava groaned, and her eyes opened slightly. She shifted then groaned in pain. Her eyes found mine after a moment.

"U... un… uncle Hershel?" She whispered.

Her eyes rolled back into her head, and her body slumped on the bed…

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **AN: Okay so I know it's short but it's just a little interlude. I decided to give a little background to Ava's mom, and Ava's relationship with Hershel. Next chapter will be back in Ava's P.O.V.**_


	12. Interlude Part Two

_***Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. The only thing I own is my OC's Ava and Harper. ***_

 _ **AN: I saw this thing on Facebook about the woman, Addy Miller, who played the part of the little girl that Rick runs into in the first episode. I based Harper off that girl, and because of the article I saw I found out that they had named that girl Summer! So, my question to all of you should I go back and rename Harper to Summer, or should I keep it as Harper? Leave a review and let me know what ya'll think.**_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **No Rest for the Undead**_

 _Chapter twelve: Interlude Part Two_

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **Carol's P.O.V.**_

Two days! Two days, that my baby girl had been lost out in those woods. My only comfort was that she was with Ava. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that woman would protect my little girl with her life. But my mind wouldn't stop thinking up all the horrible things that could happen to the two of them. The only thing keeping me sane through this whole thing was watching over Harper.

The poor thing hadn't stopped crying since she watch Ava and Sophia being chased off into the woods. She wouldn't even speak, and she barely ate. She would just sit there in the middle of the camp and stare off towards the woods. Pepper never left her side, preferring to sit next to the distraught little girl, her head resting on Harper's lap. I did my best to keep myself together, if only for Harper.

Shane seemed to have given up on the idea of Ava and Sophia being alive. To be honest it seemed like he didn't care. Honestly, the man was starting to give me a bad feeling. Surprisingly, Merle and Daryl where the two who insisted that they were still alive, though Merle was of the mind that Ava could take care of herself and Sophia and she didn't need our help to find them. Daryl on the other hand spent most of the past two days looking for them, with an annoyed Merle following behind him, muttering about stupid people and his brother going soft.

I was currently trying to get Harper to eat something, worried about the lack of food she'd eaten the past two days. Despite my best efforts the poor thing just sat there starring off silently at the trees.

"Walker! Walker!" Andrea shouted suddenly from the top of the RV.

I stood up and glanced towards the trees where she was looking.

"Just the one?" Dale asked.

"I bet I can nail it from here," Andrea stated, holding up a shot gun.

"No, no, Andrea. Put the gun down. You'd best let us handle this," Shane denied.

Andrea scowled at him as Rick, Shane, Daryl, Merle, and T-Dog all took off towards the lone walker that was heading towards the farm. Andrea muttered something under her breath, laid down on the top of the RV, and seemed to be trying to line up a shot.

"Andrea, don't," Dale argued.

"Back off, Dale," Andrea grumbled.

"Andrea, you could hit one of them!" I tried.

But Andrea just ignored me. I watched as the men of the group reached the walker, and they all stopped. Why aren't they taking it out? Unless… it's not a walker.

"Andrea wait don't…" Andrea firing the shot gun cut me, and I watched as the figure fell to the ground, revealing a smaller figure standing behind it. Rick screamed, and the men converged around the downed figure.

"Oh my god," I whispered.

Daryl came racing up towards the farm house, a limp figure in his arms. He raced past me towards the porch where Hershel was standing. I caught a glimpse of Ava's face, and my legs almost gave out on me. Suddenly something small slammed into me, nearly knocking me off my feet. I looked down to see Sophia wrapped around me. A strangled cry made its way out of my throat, and I pulled my little girl into a hug.

Sophia was crying hysterically, and I just stood there, enjoying the moment, glad to have my daughter back in my arms. But soon enough my mind went back to Ava. God, had Andrea just killed her?

"Sophia, darling, let's go inside and see how Ava is," I suggested, kneeling to her level.

Sophia nodded her head, and I took a moment to look her over. Her face was red and puffy from crying, but other than that she appeared to be completely fine. I glanced over at where Harper and Pepper had been only moments ago to find that they were no longer there. They must have followed the group inside the house.

I took Sophia's hand and lead her into the house. I followed the sound of everyone's voices up to the second floor. They were all gathered around a room at the back of the hallway, and I slowly made my way to the room. Several people moved out of mine and Sophia's way, and I finally managed to glance into the room.

Ava was lying on the only bed in the room. She was pale as death, and completely covered in blood. Hershel was frantically working on her, doing his best to keep her alive. I caught sight of Harper standing at the foot of the bed, Pepper in her arms. Suddenly a groan left Ava, and she shifted on the bed. Her eyes opened slightly, and she glanced around the room. Her eyes caught on Hershel and she stared at him for a moment, seeming to be confused about something.

"U…Un…Uncle Hershel?" She questioned.

Her eyes rolled back into her head, and just like that she was once again unconscious. Uncle Hershel? They were related? And somehow, they'd managed to find each other in this hell. It was another miracle, first Rick finds his family, Sophia had been brought back to me, and now Ava found her family. Hopefully Hershel would be able to pull another miracle and save Ava.

I clutch Sophia close to me, and said a silent pray. Ava had looked after and kept my little girl safe for two days. I owed her everything, and I just wish I could do something to help. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Andrea standing next to me peering into the room. I felt anger flash through me. She was told not to fire that gun. She wasn't experienced enough to be trying to make a shot like that. She could have hit one of the men, she could have hit Sophia, and she did hit Ava.

I turned and glared at her, angry that she could be so careless. She was so ready to prove herself, prove that she could protect the group to, prove that she could be like the men, that she could have just gotten Ava killed. Andrea glanced over at me and she had the decency to look ashamed.

"Carol, I…"

"Don't. Just don't Andrea. You were told not to fire that gun. You could have hit any of them. You did hit Ava. They had it handled, but you just wanted to try to prove yourself, everyone else be damned. This is on you," I stated, shaking my head.

After Ed's death, after the long talk I'd had with Ava in the RV, after feeling useless in the CDC, and after watching my daughter be chased off by walkers, I had decided. I wasn't going to be that quiet woman that sat back and did nothing, I wasn't going to be the woman that took shit from people anymore.

I needed to stand up for myself, and protect my daughter. Starting today things are going to be different. I'm going to be different. And when Ava pulls through this I'm going to have her teach me how to defend myself. I won't just stand by anymore and wait for someone to save me!

 _~(^.^)~_

 _ **AN: alright so I know I said I'd be going back to Ava's P.O.V. but I was having some major writers block, and I figured why not do a chapter in Carol's P.O.V. And now we have the start of a badass Carol. It's gonna take a while for her to overcome her fears and be more confident but she'll get there. Review and let me know what ya think!**_


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